Nancy Kricorian to Discuss New Novel “The Burning Heart of the World” at NAASR

BELMONT, MA — The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will host a hybrid (in-person and online) book event with author Nancy Kricorian in conversation with Nanore Barsoumian discussing Kricorian’s new novel The Burning Heart of the World, on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern) / 4:30 (Pacific), at the NAASR Vartan Gregorian Building, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA.

The program is being held as part of the ongoing series Literary Lights 2025, showcasing new literary works by Armenian authors, organized by the International Armenian Literary Alliance, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, and the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center.

The event is open to all free of charge, and a reception and book signing will follow the program.  The Burning Heart of the World (Red Hen Press) will be available for purchase from the NAASR bookstore. This will be an in-person event and also presented online live via Zoom (Registration: https://bit.ly/4hrGuah) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/c/ArmenianStudies).

The Burning Heart of the World tells the story of a Beirut Armenian family before, during, and after the Lebanese Civil War.  Returning to the fabular tone of Zabelle, her popular first novel, Kricorian conjures up the lost worlds and intergenerational traumas that haunt a family in permanent exile. Leavened with humor and imbued with the timelessness of a folktale, The Burning Heart of the World is a sweeping saga that takes readers on an epic journey from the mountains of Cilicia to contemporary New York City.

Nancy Kricorian, who was born and raised in the Armenian community of Watertown, Massachusetts, is the author of four novels about post-genocide Armenian diaspora experience, including Zabelle, which was translated into seven languages, was adapted as a play and had been continuously in print since 1998; Dreams of Bread and Fire (2003); and All the Light There Was (2013). Her essays and poems have appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly, Guernica, Parnassus, Minnesota Review, The Mississippi Review, and other journals. She has taught at Barnard, Columbia, Yale, and New York University, as well as Teacher & Writers Collaborative in the New York City Public Schools and for the Palestine Writing Workshop in Birzeit. She has been the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a Gold Medal from the Writers Union of Armenia, and the Anahid Literary Ward. She lives in New York City and has been a member of the NAASR Board of Directors since 2016.

Nanore Barsoumian is a Boston-based writer and researcher. She served as editor of The Armenian Weekly (2014-2016) and assistant editor (2010-2014), reporting from Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Javakhk, and Turkey. Her articles focus on books, politics and human rights, while her scholarly research explores genocide memorialization and denial.  She is currently working on her debut novel, which explores themes of belonging and self-invention.  Her review of The Burning Heart of the World was published in the February 25, 2025, issue of the Armenian Weekly.

For more information about this program, contact NAASR at hq@naasr.org.