The fund which was active from 2016 to 2021 notably included a translation grant ("the Vartanouche Krikorian Translation Grant") whose aim was to promote internationally contemporary Armenian fiction that has contemporary social and/or political resonance in Armenia.

 

Thanks to missions in Armenia, notably during the book fair in Yerevan, the translation grant was able to select an excellent translator from Armenian into French, Anahit Avetisyan.

 

Trips to the book fair in Frankfurt or Marseille and contacts in Switzerland have enabled the stock exchange to forge partnerships with publishers (Parenthèses in Marseille, Belleville in Paris) and a foundation, the Jan Michalski Foundation for writing and literature in Montricher.

 

In the end, over the period 2017-2021, the grant financed the translation of two books from Armenian into French: "Goodbye, Piaf" by Aram Pachyan (2020, Parentheses) and "Third gender" by Jean-Chat Tekgyozyan, (2021, Belleville). 

 

In order to support the vitality of literary creation in the Armenian language, the fund has also engaged in an action of support for the relaunch of the PEN International PEN center in Armenia. 

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Hyestart could not have carried out these various projects without the support and solid collaboration of theARI literary agencyfounded by Arevik Ashkharoyan. 

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Fruit of the unfailing commitment of the members of Hyestart and with a history punctuated by beautiful encounters and fruitful partnerships, the fund is for the moment, by force of circumstance, put on hold.  However, nothing is forbidden and the fund could, if the conditions allow it, operate again in the future in order to support contemporary literary creation in Armenia by supporting translation, but also perhaps the freedom to publish in Turkey where it is more than ever threatened. 

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Contact:contact@hyestart.org 

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