YEREVAN — Yerevan based Intellectual Renaissance Foundation has opened a branch in Fresno. In 2015, the foundation has purchased the house of the great Oscar winning writer and Pulitzer Prize receiver William Saroyan. The house is located on 2729 Griffith Way, Fresno, which has a Local Historic Preservation status and where Saroyan wrote 10 of his works. Here, the foundation is going to open a House Museum of William Saroyan.
The project is dedicated to creating an environment, where a significant part of William Saroyan’s Literary Heritage will be stored. It will become a symbol of William Saroyan’s house, where he lived and found inspiration for writing. The house museum is going to be a cultural center for Armenians from all over the world to come and get to know the lifestyle of the great writer. At the same time, it will be a center for international admirers of William Saroyan. The house museum will become a cultural center for literary events, readings and performances dedicated to the great writer. The foundation has contacted some of the central institutions, which possess a significant part of Saroyan’s memorabilia, such as William Saroyan Foundation, Stanford University, the University of Berkeley, as well as the State University of Fresno.
The foundation is interested in collecting the following items:
-Pictures and videos, capturing the atmosphere of his houses in Fresno and Paris
-Saroyan’s books signed by himself, as well as his diaries, personal papers, contracts and first editions of his works
-Letters, manuscripts, notes, paintings and drawings
-Journals and notebooks, correspondence, business records, fan mail, memorabilia
-Artworks, paintings, notes, and his furniture
-The great writer also had a habit of collecting hats, shoes, even rocks, and surprisingly strange items.
All donors contributing to the collection will be properly acknowledged.
