Tag Archives: Armenia

My Last Night in Yerevan

Posted on May 13, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

The quiet hum of Ashtarak highway reverberates in the background; the wind rustles the trees, new leaves – excited to show them off after a long cold winter. The city, away down into the valley buzzes with life: restaurants and … Continue reading →

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Springtime In Yerevan

Posted on April 30, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

It’s springtime again in Yerevan. The crisp early-morning air smells like croissants and coffee and cigarette smoke over cologne or perfume wafting from a wandering passerby on a labor of purpose. A bustle of movement, new-construction around which deliveries – … Continue reading →

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Armenia Saved My Life

Posted on April 29, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

“That is why I love America,” he said to me this morning, eyes watering. “A land where immigrants are welcomed and can free themselves of the shackles of the past – of the old country which we love so much, … Continue reading →

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Grant Matevosyan

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

I love literature that is grounded. Stories that emerge from the darkened forests, crystal lakes and crisp mountain pastures where sheep are raised in the summer and which are lost to the forbidding snow, sequestered away and quiet during the … Continue reading →

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“Song of America” by George Mardikian

Posted on April 4, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

There is something extraordinarily good, tremendously fresh and clean and pure about “Song of America” by George Mardikian. Mardikian is a now-famous Armenian-American restauranteur and philanthropist who became successful despite the ‘old world’ difficulties – genocide by the Young Turks … Continue reading →

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My Name is Aram

Posted on February 17, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

There is something earthy, well-connected to the land in Armenian literature. The golden sunsets across the mountains, the pale white powdery snow, the gentle goodness of the tastes close to nature – figs and grapes and nuts, occasionally meat when … Continue reading →

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Apples of Immortality

Posted on January 2, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

For those who love medieval literature – Chaucer or the Brothers Grim – for those who love faerie tales from Ireland – you will love Apples of Immortality. Stories that come from the olden Armenian traditions, handed down from father … Continue reading →

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Discovering A Great Voice

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

There is nothing more extraordinary, more exhilarating than the discovery of a great voice. A singular talent tucked away and unsung except for those who know, and those who search to fill that space within their souls that only is … Continue reading →

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Caravanserai

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

I am not a normal travel blogger; not a travel blogger at all really. I frequent the lost places, and sometimes I write about them. It is an uncommon world we live in, that is what the great lockdown has … Continue reading →

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98.6 – A Novel by Leon Surmelian

Posted on May 22, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

It’s odd to review a novel about tuberculosis while on lockdown cowering from a pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands in a matter of weeks. That statement is even strange to write. Had I read this novel only three … Continue reading →

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