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
APRIL, A MONTH WITH TWO ANNIVERSARIES
April showers bring May flowers, so the saying goes. In other words, endure April for the reward of May. Yet April offers its own bounty: cherry blossoms, swaths of tulips, and the unfurling of maple leaves, to name a few. April also brings those showers, tree pollen,...
March, A Month To Spring Forward, Still
The harbingers of spring continue this month, with azaleas, daffodils, and forsythia in full bloom, and maples, alders, and dogwood trees beginning to bud out. We have a mallard couple visiting our pond and a blush of robins spreads over the front field bobbing for...
FEBRUARY, A MONTH OF HARBINGERS
If last month winter was on my mind (winter projects, wintering, snow), the month of February has me noticing the harbingers of spring (daffodil buds, the morning bird chorus, the emergence of Pacific banana slugs), even if the temperatures are still on the chilly...