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Christopher Atamian

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Christopher Atamian
BornNew York, United States
OccupationCritic, writer, curator, filmmaker and translator
LanguageEnglish

Armenian

French
Education

Christopher Peter Atamian (/əˈteɪmɪən/) is a New York-based literary critic, writer, translator, curator and filmmaker who was the recipient of the 2015 Ellis Island Medal of Honor. He has translated works from French and Armenian into English including; The Bois de Vincennes (2013), The Rosy Future of War (1999), Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France (2016), and Trashland (2023).

Born to immigrants, Christopher grew up and studied in the United States where he received his BA in literature from Harvard University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich as a Fulbright fellow. He then studied at USC School of Cinematic Arts and Columbia Business School, where he received an MBA in international media. In 2013, he was awarded the Tölölyan Literary Prize for translating Nigoghos Sarafian's The Bois de Vincennes and in 2017 he received a second Tölölyan Literary Prize for his debut poetry collection A Poet in Washington Heights (2018).

Biography

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Early life: background and education

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Atamian was born in New York City to immigrant Swiss-Italian and Lebanese-Armenian parents.[1] He studied at the Lycée Français de New York and graduated from Collegiate School in 1985,[2] where he was a National Merit Semifinalist[3]. Atamian earned his BA in Literature at Harvard University (1985–1989).[4][5] He later proceeded to the Swiss National Polytechnic in Zürich on a Fulbright Fellowship.[1] He is also an alumnus of USC Film School and Columbia Business School, where he earned his MBA in International Media.[1]

Career breakthrough: curation and filmmaking

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Atamian is the co-founder and curator of Atamian Hovsepian Curatorial Practice, a gallery and cultural center located in New York City. AHCP seeks to exhibit the full spectrum of creators including women, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, SWANA and other artists and practices whose methods, forms and expressions have been unrecognized or marginalized.[6] Atamian has directed and produced short videos and films including Sarafian's Desire, a short video based on his translation of Nigoghos Sarafian's The Bois de Vincennes.[7] His work has also been screened at the 2009 Venice Art Biennale as part of Voulu/Obligé Armenian Diaspora Pavilion as part of Berlin's Underconstruction Artist collective.[8]

Atamian co-produced the OBIE Award-winning play Trouble in Paradise(2006),[9] Dear Armen (2014),[10] MTV music videos, the dance film Psychic Data Mining and an experimental film For You, My Beloved Grandparents, which screened at the 2005 Yerevan International Film Festival (now called Golden Apricot International Film Festival).[11]

Atamian has authored several screenplays, including The Plagiarist, Resurrection Myth/Harnoomi Arasbel[12] which was screened at the 2021 ARPA International Film Festival (Arpa IFF),[13] 2021 Tokyo International Short Film Festival and received Gulbenkian Foundation’s 2020 Be Heard! Prize.[14]

Publications

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Translations: from French to English

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  • The Rosy Future of War,[15] by Philippe Delmas, Free Press, 1999
  • Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France,[16] by Krikor Beledian, 2016, Fresno State University Press
  • Trashland,[17][18] by Denis Donikian, Nauset Press, 2023
  • A History of the Armenian Language, by Marc Nichanian, Fresno State University press, forthcoming in 2024
  • Literature and Catastrophe, by Marc Nichanian, Fresno State University Press, forthcoming in 2024

Translations: from Armenian to English

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  • The Bois de Vincennes,[19] by Nigoghos Sarafian, Michigan State University Press, 2013
  • Ararat by Davit Hakobyan, AGBU Books, 2022
  • The Anointment, by Vahe Oshagan, forthcoming, 2025

Writing career

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Creative writing

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Atamian's first book of poetry A Poet in Washington Heights[20] received the 2017 Tölölyan Literary Prize.[21] His essays have appeared in; The New Criterion,[22] The Hye-Phen Magazine,[23][24][25] Rusted Radishes: Beirut Literary and Art Journal,[26] The Los Angeles Review of Books,[27] The Harpy Hybrid Review[28] and Yerevan Magazine.[29] His essay As I Lay Dying: AIDS and Perec's Endotic was awarded second prize in the Question Your Teaspoons international essay competition, co-sponsored by IALA and Oxford University.[30]

Journalism and criticism

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Atamian co-published and edited KGB Magazine. He is the former dance critic for the New York Press and has written for The New York Times Book Review,[31] Vogue,[32] New York, Dance Magazine,[33] The Brooklyn Rail,[34] HuffPost,[35] Scenes Media,[36] The Armenian Mirror-Spectator,[37] and the non-profit online weekly magazine EVN Report.[38]

View

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Armenian and LGBTQ

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Atamian had been a supporter of the LGBTQ community serving as the president of AGLA NY (an organization which fights to help bridge the understanding gap between the LGBTQ communities in Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora and its respective societies-at-large) for two consecutive terms.[39] He was profiled in the Aurora Prize's 100 Lives[9] as one of the most prominent members of Armenian diaspora.

Awards and grants

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Atamian was awarded the 2015 Ellis Island Medal of Honor.[40] He has also received two Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation grants for translation.[41] In 2013, he was awarded the Tölölyan Literary Prize[42][43] for his translation of Nigoghos Sarafian's The Bois de Vincennes.[44][45]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Interview with Christopher Atamian". Creative Armenia. 27 February 2018. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  2. ^ King, Elisabeth (25 February 2015). "LFNY Alumni are a Wonderful Network All Over the World". Lycée Français de New York. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  3. ^ "LIST OF MERIT SEMIFINALISTS". The New York Times. 22 September 1985. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Harvard Class of '89 - books". Harvard University. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Harvard Class of '89 - 35th Committee". Harvard University. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  6. ^ "About Us | Atamian Hovsepian Curatorial Practice | New York". Atamian Hovsepian. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  7. ^ Manoukian, Jennifer (22 March 2012). "Nigoghos Sarafian: The Bois de Vincennes". Armenian Review. 53 (1–4): 212–217.
  8. ^ "Christopher Atamian | Artists". underconstructionhome.net (in German). Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Christopher Atamian". Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Theater: Dear Armen". The Tribeca Trib. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  11. ^ "2005 PR". gaiff.am. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Ara Oshagan - Resurrection Myth". araoshagan.net. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  13. ^ IFF, Arpa (8 November 2021). "Resurrection Myth by Ara Oshagan (2021)". Arpa International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  14. ^ vcunha (27 July 2020). "You Were Heard". Armenian Communities. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  15. ^ Literature_News (2 December 2017). "Christopher Atamian wins the 2017 Tölölyan Literature Prize". Literature News. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  16. ^ zohrabcenter (15 May 2017). "20th Century Armenian Literature in France. Book Presentation by Christopher Atamian. Tuesday, May 23 7PM". The Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  17. ^ Donikian, Denis (2023). Trashland by Denis Donikian: Translated from the French by Christopher Atamian. Nauset Press. ISBN 979-8-9859692-7-6.
  18. ^ Sarafian, Arpi (1 December 2023). "Review: Denis Donikian's Trashland: 'Der Voghormia. Der...'". The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. Archived from the original on 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  19. ^ Sarafian, Arpi (18 August 2022). "Nigoghos Sarafian's The Bois de Vincennes: A Revelation". The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  20. ^ Atamian, Christopher (7 January 2018). A Poet in Washington Heights | Christopher Atamian. Nauset Press. ISBN 978-1976483936.
  21. ^ Janigian, Aris (23 May 2018). "The Armenian Poet of Washington Heights". The Armenian Weekly. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  22. ^ "Christopher Atamian". The New Criterion. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  23. ^ Atamian, Christopher; Oshagn, Ara. "Ghosts in Bourj Hammoud: The Ghetto as Queer Space | The Hye-Phen". Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  24. ^ Atamian, Christopher. "Johnny Goes to War | The Hye-Phen". Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  25. ^ Atamian, Christopher. "You can't Marry Badiyya! | The Hye-Phen". Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  26. ^ Atamian, Christopher (14 March 2022). "As I Lay Dying: AIDS and Perec's Endotic". Rusted Radishes. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  27. ^ "Christopher Atamian". Los Angeles Review of Books. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  28. ^ "Anush Uhllah!: Christmas in Morningside Heights – Harpy Hybrid Review". Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  29. ^ "Քրիստոֆեր Աթամյան․ "Տրամվայների սիրահարը"". Երևան (in Armenian). Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  30. ^ Atamian, Christopher (14 March 2022). "As I Lay Dying: AIDS and Perec's Endotic". Rusted Radishes. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  31. ^ "Christopher Atamian". www.nytimes.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  32. ^ Atamian, Christopher. "Books: Family Tree | Vogue | MARCH 2001". Vogue | The Complete Archive. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  33. ^ "Dance Magazine". Dance Magazine. 3 August 2020. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  34. ^ "The Brooklyn Rail". The Brooklyn Rail. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  35. ^ "Christopher Atamian | HuffPost". www.huffpost.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  36. ^ "Christopher Atamian | SCENES". Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  37. ^ "Christopher Atamian, Author at The Armenian Mirror-Spectator". The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. 4 January 2024. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  38. ^ "Two Documentaries, One Velvet Revolution". EVN Report. Archived from the original on 15 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  39. ^ Weekly Staff (8 March 2013). "AGLA NY to Present 'Dealing with Difference'". The Armenian Weekly. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  40. ^ "7 Armenians to Receive Ellis Island Medal of Honor – Asbarez.com". Asbarez. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  41. ^ "Annual report 2013" (PDF). Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation: 230. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  42. ^ "Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society's Eastern Regional Executive Announces the 2022 Minas and Kohar Tölölyan Prize in Contemporary Literature | Hamazkayin Eastern Region USA". Hamazkayin. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  43. ^ "Christopher Atamian Poetry Collection A Poet in Washington Heights Wins Tölölyan Prize". The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. 7 December 2017. Archived from the original on 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  44. ^ "Hamazkayin Announces Winner of Tölölyan Prize in Contemporary Literature". The Armenian Weekly. 4 June 2013. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  45. ^ "Hamazkayin Announces Winner of Tölölyan Prize in Contemporary Literature". Asbarez. 3 June 2013. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
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