YEREVAN, Armenia — The American University of Armenia is pleased to share two recent literary milestones accomplished by Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Translation program Dr. Shushan Avagyan.
On October 18, Minas Lourian’s Italian translation of Dr. Avagyan’s novel Գիրք-անվերնագիր (Libro senza nome; in English, A Book, Untitled) was published by the avant-garde publishing house Utopia in Milan. It has already received glowing reviews and positive mentions in notable local papers such as La Repubblica, Il Manifesto, Internazionale, and others. With close to zero literary works translated from Armenian into Italian, this publication has set a remarkable precedent for Armenian literature.
Just a week later, on October 25, the English translation of A Book, Untitled by Deanna Cachoian-Schanz won the Modernist Studies Association’s (MSA) Translation Book Prize. The Nominating Committee consisted of notable scholars in the field: Dr. Christos Hadjiyiannis from the University of Regensburg (Chair), Dr. María del Pilar Blanco from the University of Oxford, and Dr. Harris Feinsod from Johns Hopkins University. A Book, Untitled was selected from a shortlist that included three other outstanding publications:
- Marcel Proust, The Seventy-Five Folios and Other Unpublished Manuscripts, translated from French by Sam Taylor (Harvard University Press, 2023)
- Fradl Shtok, From the Jewish Provinces: Selected Stories, translated from Yiddish by Jordan Finkin and Allison Schachter (Northwestern University Press, 2022)
- Murathan Mungan, Valor: Stories, translated from Turkish by Aron Aji and David Gramling (Northwestern University Press, 2022)
While the MSA has annually recognized books, originally written in English, by scholars of modernism since 1998, this is the first translated book prize in its history. Cachoian-Schanz will attend the Modernist Studies Association Annual Conference in Chicago from November 7-10, during which the winning book will be officially announced.
“I am both humbled and thrilled by this recognition and hope it will bring more fame to the protagonists of the book, Shushanik Kurghinian and Zabel Yesayan. They both deserve more attention,” shared Dr. Avagyan.
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.