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 family memoir, 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
A Happy Family
"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." - Leo Tolstoy While I’ve written essays and I’m working on a family memoir about my paternal family, I’ve written almost nothing about my maternal family. How does one write about a happy...
Please Call Your Senators
Daylight Savings vs. Standard Time Most people agree we should stop the twice a year time changes. If you've read my prior blogs, you know I feel strongly about staying on standard time. Please read this important piece by Your Local Epidemiologist that shows the...
Where I’m From
If you were asked to write about your childhood, grounded in place and sensory detail, what would you write? On which aspects of your childhood would you focus? Which family idiosyncrasies would you describe? In 1993, George Ella Lyon published her poem, “Where...