Aram Pachyan (real name Sevak Hakobi Tamamyan; born March 19, 1983) is an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

writer. He is considered one of the most prominent representatives of the post-Soviet generation of Armenian authors. In 2021, he won the

EU Prize for Literature The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), established in 2009, is a European Union literary award. Its aim is to recognise outstanding new literary talents from all over Europe, to promote the circulation and translation of literature among ...

for his book ''P/F'', becoming the first Armenian author to receive the honor. Pachyan's work is noted for its fragmentary,

stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. It is usually in the form of an interior monologue which ...

style and difficult subject matter. His books have been published in several languages, including

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Early life

Aram Pachyan was born on March 19, 1983, in

Vanadzor Vanadzor (, ) is an urban municipal community and the third largest city in Armenia, serving as the capital of Lori Province in the northern part of the country. It is located about north of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 census, the city h ...

, into a family of medical workers. His father is a renowned surgeon Hakob Ghukas Tamamyan, who in 1988-1994, as a volunteer and on duty, traveled throughout Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, treating soldiers and civiliansPachyan credits his family for instilling a love of literature in him from a young age citing ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' ( ) is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. Written with a combination of Epistolary novel, epistolary, Confessional writing, confessional, and Didacticism, didactic forms, the ...

'' by Daniel Dafoe as one of the most influential books in his youth, particularly due to its themes surrounding isolation. The novel later inspired the title of his first collection of short stories, ''Robinson.'' Pachyan received a degree in law from the

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; , , ), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919, it is the largest university in the country. It is thus informally known as Armenia's ...

but soon became disillusioned with the prospects of working as a lawyer in Armenia. He began to write stories shortly after being discharged from the Armenian military, inspired by the things he experienced and witnessed during his mandatory service. He cited

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...

Susan Sontag Susan Lee Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on "Camp", Notes on 'Ca ...

and

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

among his favorite authors.

Career

In 2010 Pachyan published his first collection of short stories, titled ''Robinson and 13 stories'' In 2009, before the publication of the entire collection, he received the Presidential youth prize for literature for several stories that were already published at that point. A second Armenian edition of the book was published in 2019. The collection was published in English by Glagoslav Publications in 2020, translated by Nazareth Seferian, Nairi Hakhverdi, Arevik Ashkharoyan, Nyree Abrahamian, and Lusine Mueller. The stories touch on topics such as masculinity, childhood trauma, loneliness and alcoholism. In 2012 he published his first novel, ''Goodbye Bird,'' a reedited and extended second edition of the novel in Armenian was published in 2017. The following year it was published in English by Glagoslav Publications, translated by Nairi Hakhverdi. ''Goodbye, Bird'' is centered around the memories of a 28 year old man who was discharged from the army. The novel has been adapted for the stage two times: a play based on the novel, titled ''I Am a Vegetarian'' premiered in Yerevan in 2015, the work was also adapted into an English language opera, which premiered in Munchen in 2021. In 2014, Pachyan published his second collection of short stories and essays, ''Ocean,'' A second edition was released in 2020. A story from the collection, titled ''Remembering the reader'' was translated to English and published in

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

's literary magazine Absinthe. In 2020 Pachyan published his second novel, ''P/F.'' The novel is a fragmentary experimental work touching on the past and present of Yerevan. Before the novel was published, on February 22, 2015, within the framework of "DILIJAN CHAMBER MUSIC", the work "Pachyan Fragments" written for vocals, violin and percussion by Swiss-based composer Aram Hovhannisyan was performed at the "Zipper Hall" in Los Angeles, USA. In 2021, the novel won the

. In 2023, Pachyan published a prose collection titled ''"If This is a Writer".'' Between 2013-2020, Pachyan worked as a columnist in the ''Hraparak'' newspaper.

Reception

Literary scholar and editor Arqmenik Nikoghosyan praised Pachyan's work, spotlighting the first three of the writer's books in his radio show ''High Literature with Arqmenik Nikoghosyan.'' Fellow author Grig called ''Robinson'' one of the best works of contemporary literature.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pachyan, Aram 21st-century Armenian writers 1983 births Living people