As far back as Homer’s Iliad, poets have chronicled the wars of men. Pound, Larkin, Whitman, Rilke, e.e cummings, and more recently poets like Ocean Vuong. In this podcast, the SWANA collective is joined by co-host Christopher Atamian to interview poet Shahé Mankerian. With his 2020 debut poetry collection, History of Forgetfulness, Mankerian has written what one critic hailed as “definitive verse about the Lebanese Civil War.” Mankerian delivers wartime Beirut from the eyes of a child. The day-to-day horror of sectarian battle, the family violence and ultimate descent into barbarity. But also surprising acts of goodness—a message of hope from deep within the abyss.
Shahe Mankerian's debut poetry collection, History of Forgetfulness, which was published by the Fly on the Wall Press in the United Kingdom in October of 2021, has been a finalist at four prestigious competitions: the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition, the Bibby First Book Competition, the Quercus Review Press, Fall Poetry Book Award, and the White Pine Press Poetry Prize. Shahé Mankerian is the principal at St. Gregory Alfred and Marguerite Hovsepian School in Pasadena, California. For a decade (2008-2018), he co-directed the Los Angeles Writing Project at California State University, Los Angeles. As an educator, he has been honored with the Los Angeles Music Center’s BRAVO Award, which recognizes teachers for innovation and excellence in arts education. Currently, he serves on the Board of Directors at the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA).
