ABOUT
Laura
In 2021, I graduated with an MFA degree in Creative Writing from the Rainier Writing Workshop, a three-year low-residency MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. In that program, I completed two manuscripts tied to my exploration into how my grandmother and her two sisters survived the Armenian Genocide. My critical paper explores how authors write into silence, the private silence of untold stories and the public silence of suppressed stories. In my creative thesis, a hybrid memoir, family photographs, primary documents, and historical fact intersect with memories and speculation to create a personal story within the larger public archive.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Matilda’s Silence: The Search For My Armenian Family’s Story
My grandmother Matilda Haigazn survived the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, which took one and a half million Armenian lives, men, women, and children. Matilda rarely spoke of her experiences and the family she left behind in Turkey. Not knowing what happened has always haunted me. This manuscript is my investigative journey to find my extended family and their story, including the historical context in which their lives took place.
Blog
Capturing a Moment in the Life of a Writer
True story. Sometimes the writing feels impossible. More specifically, the organization of the writing. The structure of a chapter. The narrative arc of a manuscript. What exactly is going exactly where? How are all those facts, all these thoughts and feelings, all...
Publication Announcement—Sometimes They Say Yes!
I’m excited to share the reprint of an essay dear to my heart, “Geraniums” on Short Reads. Short Reads publishes new and previously published flash essays, one a week. You can read “Geraniums” here. How this happened: I haven’t been submitting much. I...
A Day in My Life
I wrote an essay for Big Table Press for their This Year: 2025 project, which they describe as “building a living time capsule or a conversational archive or a collection of days.” When I signed up earlier this year, the roster of writers was full and I was on the...