The Kaleidoscope of Destiny: A Conversation and Book Signing with Sarah Ignatius and Arpi Sarafian

GLENDALE, CA — Abril Bookstore and The Center for Armenian Arts will present “The Kaleidoscope of Destiny: A Conversation and Book Signing” with author Sarah Ignatius and scholar and author Arpi Sarafian on Monday, October 19, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at The Center for Armenian Arts, 250 N. Orange Street in Glendale.

The event will feature a conversation about Ignatius’ debut novel, The Kaleidoscope of Destiny, followed by a book signing. Admission is free.

Set in 1915 amid the Armenian Genocide, The Kaleidoscope of Destiny follows 14-year-old Arakel, whose life is shattered when Ottoman authorities arrest nearly all the Armenian men in his town, including his father and older brother, and force the remaining Armenian population into exile.

As Arakel and his family are driven toward the Syrian desert, he witnesses deprivation, violence and death and gradually comes to understand the enormity of what is taking place around him. His struggle for survival brings him into contact with people from different ethnic, religious and national backgrounds—including Bedouins, Kurds, Arabs, Turks, Germans and a wandering dervish. Faced with circumstances in which trust can mean the difference between life and death, Arakel is forced to reconsider his assumptions about friends, enemies and human nature.

Through Arakel’s journey, the novel explores courage, hope, ingenuity and compassion amid one of history’s darkest periods. It also examines the ability of individuals to retain their humanity in the face of persecution and mass violence.

Before publishing The Kaleidoscope of Destiny, Sarah Ignatius worked for many years as a human rights lawyer and nonprofit executive director. She taught immigration and asylum law at Boston College Law School and is coauthor of Immigration Law and the Family. She also authored a report on the U.S. asylum system for Harvard Law School’s National Asylum Study Project.

Her legal writings have appeared in the Harvard Human Rights Journal, Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, Bender’s Immigration Bulletin and Immigration Briefings. Her literary work has received recognition from the New England Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and the National League of American Pen Women, as well as Glimmer Train. She was also selected as a Somerville Arts Council Literature Artist Fellow. Ignatius, who is of Armenian descent, is a graduate of Stanford University and Georgetown University Law Center and lives in Massachusetts with her family.

Arpi Sarafian, who will join Ignatius in conversation, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and a B.A. and M.A. from the American University of Beirut. She taught English Language and Literature at California State University, Los Angeles from 1978 until her retirement in 2014 and has also taught at California State University, Dominguez Hills and Loyola Marymount University.

Sarafian’s writings have appeared in publications including The Armenian Observer, Ararat Literary Quarterly, The Armenian Mirror-Spectator, Armenian International Magazine (AIM), Virginia Woolf Miscellany, PMLA, the Journal of the Society of Armenian Studies and the Los Angeles Times. She is the author of Endless Crossings: Reflections on Armenian Art and Culture in Los Angeles and Second Endless Crossings: Reflections on Armenian Art and Culture.

The event will take place at The Center for Armenian Arts, 250 N. Orange Street, Glendale, CA 91203. Parking is available at the Orange Street Parking Structure, 222 N. Orange Street. The first 90 minutes are free, with parking thereafter priced at $2 per hour.

For additional information, call (747) 208-2000 or (818) 243-4112.