English and Communications Senior Publishes Armenian Translation of Joan Didion’s “Why I Write” in Inknagir Literary Magazine

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YEREVAN, Armenia — On January 18, 2018, Ani Baghumyan, a senior majoring in English and Communications at the American University of Armenia (AUA), published her translation of American journalist and writer Joan Didion’s essay “Why I Write” in Inknagir. The translation was part of her individual project in the course Literary Translation (Spring 2016) offered to students in the Writing and Translation track.

“Didion is finally available in Armenian,” Ani said. “It took me a year [to translate] but now we finally have something other than a blurb in tert.am about Didion being the face of Céline’s advertisement campaign. Now, if you google Didion’s name, you will find a brilliant piece on writing by a woman writer. I would have liked to write more about Didion, but on another occasion.”

The translation is preceded by a short translator’s note about the author and the relevance of her piece to the Armenian reader. Edited by Violet Grigoryan and Vahan Ishkhanyan, Inknagir is known for featuring unconventional, cutting-edge literature that experiments with form and content.

Ani is also the 1st place winner in the 2016 Arditi Essay Competition and her co-translations of essays by contemporary American theorists Fredric Jameson and Cornel West as part of collective translation projects have appeared in Inknagir and Arteria.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.