Worldwide Reading Commemorating the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide on 21th April 2015

The international literature festival berlin (ilb) and the Lepsiushaus Potsdam are calling for a worldwide reading on 21 April 2015 – the day that marks 100 years since the beginning of the Armenian Genocide.

APPEAL

Several hundred Armenian intellectuals – poets, musicians, parliamentary representatives and members of the clergy – were arrested in Constantinople (today Istanbul) on 24 April 1915, and deported to the Turkish interior where most of them were murdered. It was the start of a crime against humanity. The extermination of the Armenians during World War One was the first systematically planned and executed genocide of modern times. More than a million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire died during this genocidal campaign.

The events took place before the eyes of the whole world and were clearly documented by German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, American, Scandinavian, Armenian and Ottoman sources as well as by a great number of historical research projects. As early as August 1915, The New York Times reported on a methodically planned programme of ethnic cleansing and extermination which was unprecedented in history up to that time. The German Reich’s government, which was allied to the Ottoman Empire, reached the same conclusions without undertaking anything against what was happening.

The Turkish political world denies the Armenian Genocide up to the present day, although the facts have been known for more than a hundred years. The Indian writer Arundhati Roy has spoken publicly about this scandal on many occasions, including at the 2009 International Literature Festival Berlin.

A great number of Armenian voices were silenced in 1915 and in the years thereafter. Since then, others have become loud and have spoken out against forgetting, among them an increasing number of voices from the democratic Turkish civil society. In remembrance of the victims and in association with the demand for international recognition of the genocide, we are calling for a worldwide reading on 21 April 2015, with literary texts from Armenian authors, among them Siamanto, Komitas, Yeghishe Charents, William Saroyan, Hovhannes Shiraz, Paruyr Sevak, Hakop Mntsuri, Silva Kaputikian, Varujan Vosganian and Hrant Dink.

First signatories: Rolf Hosfeld, Konrad Kuhn, Hasmik Papian, Ulrich Schreiber

Aufruf (Dänisch)
Aufruf (Ostarmenisch)
Aufruf (Englisch)
Aufruf (Französisch)
Aufruf (Italienisch)
Aufr uf (Rumänisch)
Aufruf (Russisch)
Aufruf (Spanisch)
Aufruf (Türkisch)
Aufruf (Westarmenisch)

SIGNATORIES

Ragnhild Aasland Sekne (Norway), Héctor Abad (Colombia), Leila Aboulela (Sudan/UK), Mahmoud Abuhashhash (Palestine), Omar Akbar (Afghanistan/Germany), Taner Akcam (USA), Dogan Akhanli, (Turkey/Germany), Alaa al-Aswani (Egypt), Fadhil Al-Azzawi (Iraq/Germany), Claribel Alegría (Nicaragua), Eugenijus Ališanka (Lithuania), Badria Al Shihi (Oman), Martin Amis (UK/USA), Shane Anderson (USA/Germany), María Teresa Andruetto (Argentina), Antoaneta Anguelova (Bulgaria), Kwame Anthony Appiah (USA), Sima Aprahamian Hovhannessian (Canada), Asdeghik Arabian (Canada), Lindita Arapi (Albania/Germany), Chloe Aridjis (Mexico/UK), Elena Armenescu (Romania), Gabriele von Arnim (Germany), Ana Arzoumanian (Argentina), John Ashbery (USA), Jan Assmann (Germany), Christos Asteriou (Greece), Anahit Astoyan (Armenia), Hrayr Attarian (USA), Hagop Avedikian (Armenia), Evangelia Avloniti (Greece), Jean Claude Awono (Cameroon), Ricardo Azevedo (Brazil), Kathryn Babayan (USA), Bianca Bagatourian (USA), Peter Balakian (USA), Güner Yasemin Balci (Germany), John Balian (USA), Susan Barba (USA), Maria Cecilia Barbetta (Argentina/Germany), Priya Basil (UK/Germany), Adrinée Basler (Switzerland), Yahia Belaskri (Algeria/France), Viken Berberian (Lebanon/USA), Carmen Berenguer (Chile), Corina Bernic (Romania), Charles Bernstein (USA), Wolf Biermann (Germany), Maxim Biller (Germany), Carol Birch (UK), Manfred Bissinger (Germany), Hans Peter Bleuel (Germany), Christoph Blum (Switzerland), Alistair Ian Blyth (UK), Dieter Boden (Germany), Mirko Bonné (Germany), Yves Bonnefoy (France), Wojciech Bonowicz (Poland), Houry Boyamian (USA), Coral Bracho (Mexico), Anneke Brassinga (Netherlands), Breyten Breytenbach (South Africa/France/USA), Pam Brown (Australia), Hans Christoph Buch (Germany), Nerine Buhlert (Germany), Lydia Cacho (Mexico), Francesc Capdevila (Spain), Rafael Cardoso (Brazil), Brian Castro (Australia), Raquel Chalfi (Israel), Stéphane Chaumet (France), Amir Hassan Cheheltan (Iran), Noam Chomsky (USA), Hamish Clayton (New Zealand), John M. Coetzee (South Africa/Australia), Bora Ćosić (Croatia/Germany), João Paulo Cuenca (Brazil), Mihran Dabag (Germany), Achmat Dangor (South Africa), Edwidge Danticat (Haiti/USA), Leon De Winter (Netherlands), Aleš Debeljak (Slovenia), Gassia Deuvletian (Egypt), Lena Divani (Greece), Jörn Donner (Finland), Ariel Dorfman (Argentina/Chile), Jabbour Douaihy (Lebanon), György Dragomán (Hungary), Marcus Drlicek (Austria), Noel Drorian (USA), Tanja Dückers (Germany), Paul Dutton (Canada), Tom Egeland (Norway), Reimer Boy Eilers (Germany), Ashur Etwebi (Lybia), Rosana Faría (Venezuela), Gertrude Fester (Rwanda), Marcello Flores (Italy), Gerdlin Friedrich (Germany), Tope Folarin (Nigeria/USA), Carolyn Forche (USA), Luis Galar (Colombia), Christine Gardon (France), Tuncay Gary (Germany), Gurgen Gasparyan (Armenia), René Gevorkaraghi (Germany), Isaac Goldemberg (Peru/USA), Ara Grigorian (USA), Peter Goldsworthy (Australia), G. M. Goshgarian (France), Georgi Gospodinov (Bulgaria), Veruschka Götz (Germany), Dieter M. Gräf (Germany), Gintaras Grajauskas (Lithuania), Günter Grass (Germany), Judith Grohmann (Österreich), David Grossman (Israel), Dilek Güven (Germany), Reinald Gussmann (Germany), Lars Gustafsson (Sweden), Claus Guth (Germany), Ha Jin (China/USA), Christoph Haacker (Austria/Germany), Agop J. Hacikyan (Canada), Marilyn Hacker (USA), Rawi Hage (Lebanon/Canada), Joy Harjo (USA), Kevin Hart (Australia/USA), Elke Hartmann (Germany), Josef Haslinger (Austria/Germany), Robert Hass (USA), Milton Hatoum (Brazil), Esther Heboyan (France), Hannes Heer (Germany), Frank Heibert (Germany), Wolfgang Hermann (Austria), Edgar Hilsenrath (Germany), Ala Hlehel (Palestine), Tessa Hofmann (Germany), Nellie Hogikyan (Canada), Franz Hohler (Switzerland), Barbara Honigmann (Germany/France), Ulrich Horstmann (Germany), Rolf Hosfeld (Germany), David Howard (New Zealand), Tendai Huchu (Zimbabwe/UK), Iman Humaydan (Lebanon), Michal Hvorecký (Slovakia), J. K. Ihalainen (Finland), Christos Ikonomou (Greece), Hilde Susan Jaegtnes (Norway), Willi Jasper (Germany), Gerald Jatzek (Austria), Elfriede Jelinek (Austria), Dileep Jhaveri (India), Jerry Jirair Tutunjian (Canada/Armenia), Gail Jones (Australia), Peter Stephan Jungk (Austria/France), Nina Jurisch (Germany), Raffi Kantian (Germany), Meliné Karakashian (USA), Marine Karoyan (Armenia), Nare Karoyan (Armenia), Sema Kaygusuz (Turkey), Navid Kermani (Germany), Corinna Kirchhoff (Germany), Erling Kittelsen (Norway), Ulrich Klan (Germany), Claude Klein (Israel), Reinhard Kleist (Germany), Sibylle Knauss (Germany), Gerd Koenen (Germany), Wayne Koestenbaum (USA), Rober Koptas (Turkey), Lola Koundakjian (USA), Julia Kramer (Armenien), Nancy Kricorian (USA), Brigitte Kronauer (Germany), Hasso Krull (Estonia), Joseph Anton Kruse (Germany), Judith Kuckart (Germany), Konrad Kuhn (Germany/Austria), Vyacheslav Kupriyanov (Russia), Amara Lakhous (Algeria/Italia), Nam Le (Vietnam/Australia), Christoph Leisten (Germany), Liao Yiwu (China/Germany), Werner Löcher-Lawrence (Germany), Daniela Lucato (Italy/Germany), AndriSnærMagnason (Island), Birgit Mahnkopf (Germany), Geert Mak (Netherlands), Vasyk Makhno (Belorussia/USA), Afrizal Malna (Indonesia), Norman Manea (Romania/USA), Alberto Manguel (Argentina/Canada/France), Kapur, Manju (India), Tigran Mansurian (Armenia), Émile Martel (Canada), Vahram Martirosyan (Armenia), Herbert Mauer (Austria), Manfred Maurenbrecher (Germany), Markus Meckel (Germany), Amanda Michalopoulou (Greece), Anni Minassian (Australia), Muriel Mirak-Weißbach (Germany), Pankaj Mishra (India/UK), Hala Mohammad (Syria/France), George Momogos (South Africa), Quim Monzo (Spain), Reinaldo Moraes (Brazil), Danny Morrison (Ireland), Petra Morsbach (Germany), Michel Mossessian (France/UK), Fatma Müge Göcek (USA), Karl Otto Mühl (Germany), Herta Müller (Romania/Germany), Birgit Müller-Wieland (Austria/Germany), Verónica Murguía (Mexico), Claude Mutafian (France), Eileen Myles (USA), Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (Iran/France), Alberto Nessi (Switzerland), Quito Nicolaas (Netherlands Antilles), Bernard Noël (France), Hege Newth Nouri (Norway), Florence Noiville (France), Eylem Özdemir-Rinke (Turkey/Germany), Aline Ohanesian (USA), Hans-Christian Oeser (Germany), Michael Ondaatje (Canada), Dr. Elisabeth Ondrak-Zohrab (Austria), Anna Onichimowska (Poland), Amir Or (Israel), Haralampi Oroschakoff (Bulgaria/Germany/France), Jorge Palma (Uruguay), Sigurdur Pálsson (Iceland), Anna Maria Pammer (Austria/Germany), Orhan Pamuk (Turkey/USA), Hasmik Papian (Armenia/Austria), Tim Parks (UK), Rubina Peroomian (USA), Andras Petöcz (Hungary), Helene Pilibosian (USA), Elisabeth Plessen (Germany), Martin Pollack (Austria), Jean Portante (Luxembourg/France), Kristina Quintano (Norway), Ahmed Rashid (Pakistan), Fernando Rendón (Colombia), Moritz Rinke (Germany), Viola Roggenkamp (Germany), Gabriel Rosenstock (Ireland), Said (Germany), Robert Samoian (France), Alejandro Sánchez-Aizcorbe (Peru/USA), Neftalí Sandoval-Vekarich (Colombia/Serbia), Boualem Sansal (Algeria), Roger Santivanez (Peru), Mayra Santos-Febres (USA/Puerto Rico), Faraj Sarkohi (Iran), Judith Saryan (USA), Norbert Scheuer (Germany), Friederike Schinagl (Germany), Thomas Schmid (Germany), Peter Schneider (Germany), Julius Schoeps (Germany), Ulrich Schreiber (Germany), Henriette Schroeder (Austria), Christa Schuenke (Germany), Hermann Schulz (Germany), Alice Schwarzer (Germany), Taiye Selasi (UK/Italy), Eduardo Sguiglia (Argentina), Elif Shafak (Turkey/UK), Pargev Shahbazyan (Armenia), Nicholas Shakespeare (UK), Adania Shibli (Palestine/Germany), Samuel Shimon (Iraq/UK), Lorne Shirinia (Canada), Wolf Siegert (Germany), Rafał Skarżycki (Poland), Marsha Skrypuch (Canada), Folker Skulima (Germany), Ostap Slyvynsky (Ukraine), Tzveta Sofronieva (Bulgaria), Robinson Solo (Republic of the Congo), Dimitris Sotakis (Greece), Ersi Sotiropoulos (Greece), Peter Stamm (Switzerland), Robert Max Steenkist (Colombia), Ronald Grigor Suny (USA), George Szirtes (UK), Jüri Talve (Estonia), Janne Teller (Denmark), Ece Temelkuran (Turkey), Johannes Houwink ten Cate (Netherlands), Habib Tengour (Algeria/France), Annie Terny (Paris), Pierre Terzian (France), Berdj Terzian (Egypt), Seta Terzian (Egypt), Annika Thor (Sweden), Gayané Tosonian (France/Lebanon), Dubravka Ugrešić (Croatia/Netherlands/USA), Ko Un (South Korea), Jane Urquhart (Canada), Raphael Urweider (Switzerland), Thanassis Valtinos (Greece), Stefaan Van den Bremt (Belgium), David Van Reybrouck (Belgium), Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru/Spain), Ortensia Visconti (Italy/Spain), Katharina Vogel-Schmitt (Germany), Peter Völker (Germany), István Vörös (Hungary), Varujan Vosganian (Romania), Barbara Wahlster (Germany), Anne Waldman (USA), Dana Walrat (USA/Armenia), Nyein Way (Myanmar), Ian Wedde (New Zealand), Wolf Christian von Wedel Parlow (Germany), Suse Weisse (Germany), Irvine Welsh (UK), Johanna Wernicke-Rothmayer (Germany), Herb Wharton (Australia), Ernest Wichner (Romania/Germany), Herbert Wiesner (Germany), Robert Wilson (USA/France), Jack Njdeh Yaghoubian (USA), Oksana Zabuzhko (Ukraine), Zyranna Zateli (Greece), Jovan Zivlak (Serbia), Roger Sanivanez (Peru)

TEXTS

PARTICIPANTS

Argentina

Organiser: Asociación Cultural Armenia

Venue: DAIN, La Usina Cultural, Thames 1905, Buenos Aires

Time: 5 pm

Website: http://www.artbridge.am

Organiser: Armenian Literature Foundation and Mass Media Educational Center of Yerevan State University

Venue: 5 Alex Manoogian, Yerevan

Time: 3.30 pm

Additional information: This reading will be covered by the Public TV, since the Mass Media Center work in close cooperation with them

Organiser: Dr. Marine Karoyan

Venue: Tekeian Art Center

Participants: The discussion will be led by musician, art critic Dr. Marine Karoyan

Organiser: Rubina Peroomian, The Armenian Educational Foundation Yerevan, Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute

Venue: Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Yerevan

Time: 4 pm

Organiser: Julia Kramer

Venue: Russisch-Armenisch (Slawische) Universität, 123 Hovsep Emin str., Yerevan, 0051, Armenien

Time: 11 am – 1 pm

Website: http://www.rau.am/eng

Organiser: Anna Hunanyan

Venue: The office of the ”Center of Juridical-political and cultural diplomacy”NGO (Armenia,Yerevan, Argishti 7/6, 90)

Time: 3 pm

Organiser: Angela Nerenz and DAAD Armenien

Venue: Cafesjian Center for the Arts, 10 Tamanyan Street, Yerevan 0009

Time: 7 – 9 pm

Website: http://www.cmf.am/

Organiser: literary festival “Literary Ark”

Venue: The State Musical Chamber Theatre, 58 Mesrop Mashtots Ave., Yerevan

Time: 4 pm

Participants: Alan Whitehorn, Ashot Gabrielyan, Dana Walrath, Eduard Harenc, Ghukas Sirunyan, Hermine Navasardyan, Housik Ara, Karine Ashughyan, Khachik Manukyan, Marcella Polain, Meline Toumani, Tadevos Tonoyan, Tigran Gaboyean, Sago Arean

Website: http://www.litark.am/

Australia

Organiser: Anni Minassian – Armenian Book Club Australia

Venue: Theme and Variations Studios, WIlloughby, Sydney

Time: 7 pm

Organiser: Jackie Mansourian, PEN Melbourne

Venue: Athenaeum Library, Level 1, 188 Collins Street, Melbourne

Time: 6.30 – 8.30 pm

Participants: Readers and Performance: Robert Manne, Arnold Zable Judith Buckrich, Chrisitne McKenzie, Josephie Scicluna, Phil Carrol, Nayri Black, Arto Oksayan, Hidayet Ceylan, Jackie Mansourian.

Website: http://www.melbournepen.com.au/2015/04/01/event-worldwide-reading-commemorating-centenary-of-the-armenian-genocide/

Austria

Organiser: Kulturzentrum bei den Minoriten, Internationales Haus der Autor und Autorinnen Graz, ISOP, JUKUS

Venue: Kulturzentrum bei den Minoriten / Großer Minoritensaal, Mariahilferplatz 3, 8020 Graz

Time: 8 pm

Participants: Seher Cakir, Natascha Gangl, Laszlo Garaczi, Gerald Hartwig, Jogdor Obid, Ildiko Noemi Nagy, Albana Shala, Andrea Stift, Juan Carlos Sungurlian

Website: http://www.kultum.at/?d=worldwide-reading

Organiser: Anna Pfeiffer, FREIRAD 105.9 (Radio)

Venue: FREIRAD, Freies Radio Innsbruck

Website: http://www.freirad.at/

Organiser: Die Österreichisch-armenische Kulturgesellschaft, Wien in collaboration with Arco-Verlag, Wien / Wuppertal

Venue: Haus der Armenischen Kultur, Hadikgasse 28, 1140 Wien

Time: 7.30 pm

Participants: Konrad Kuhn (translator) and Christoph Haacker (publisher)

Belgium

Organiser: Thorsten Baensch, Aïda Kazarian

Venue: Brüssels

Organiser: Ioana Belu, Anita Bernacchia, EuropaNova

Venue: Bookshop EuropaNova, Brüssel

Website: http://www.europanova.be/

Bolivia

Organiser: Frau Biyú Suárez, Bolivian PEN Centre

Venue: Plaza Callejas, Santa Cruz

Time: 7 pm

Brazil

Organiser: Lenira Buscato

Venue: Bandeirantes School, Rua Estela, 268 – Vila Mariana, São Paulo

Website: http://colband.net.br/

Organiser: Sibila journal

Venue: Sao Paulo