Western Armenian Translation Grant Awarded to Aktokmakyan and Janbazian

The Israelyan Western Armenian Translation Grant, which aims to ensure more Armenian literature is translated into English and from English into Western Armenian each year, has found its recipients.

This year’s grant covered literary works written in Western Armenian from any period and across all literary genres. Among the submissions received, two works were found equally successful by the judges. In line with IALA’s vision to make Armenian literature available to a broader audience, it was decided to award the grant to two separate works this year.

The International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA) extended its thanks to all applicants of the 2025 Israelyan Western Armenian Translation Grant and to judges Tamar Marie Boyadjian and Jennifer Manoukian. The grant, which draws a wide range of submissions every year, once again facilitated the evaluation of diverse and ambitious works.

Heranoush Arshagyan’s Lusnyag «Լուսնեակ», translated by Maral Aktokmakyan, and Souren Chekijian’s Half-Drawn «Անաւարտ դիմանկար», translated by Rupen Janbazian, were deemed worthy of the award.

The Winners:

Maral Aktokmakyan: Dr. Maral Aktokmakyan is a scholar, writer, and translator whose work centers on Western Armenian literature and its enduring creative legacy. She contributes to this legacy through her original writing, crafting essays, analysis, and creative works that illuminate overlooked voices and literary traditions. She makes Armenian literature accessible to wider audiences through her translations between Armenian, English, and Turkish, preserving the richness of the original texts. Her research appears in both academic and literary venues, where she examines how literature carries memory, imagination, and identity into new contexts. Through her writing, scholarship, and translation efforts, Dr. Aktokmakyan is committed to expanding the visibility, vitality, and future possibilities of Western Armenian literary art.

Rupen Janbazian: Rupen Janbazian is a writer, editor, and translator from Toronto, currently based in Yerevan. He is the editor of Torontohye, a bilingual Armenian-English community newspaper in Toronto, and the former editor of the Armenian Weekly. Writing in both English and Western Armenian, Janbazian’s work often explores questions of homeland-diaspora, identity, and community life between Canada and Armenia. Janbazian has translated, co-translated, and edited a range of literary works, memoirs, articles, and short fiction. He is currently working on an English translation of his late friend Souren Chekijian’s Western Armenian novel «Անաւարտ դիմանկար», set in Toronto, which examines exile, aging, desire, and the inner world of a Lebanese-Armenian painter in Canada. He lives in Yerevan with his partner Araz, and their dog, Srjeni.