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
Work, Wonder, and Windows
Welcome to my blog. First time here? Check out May’s blog for info on my intentions for this space. Work: Last October while reading Judith Kitchen’s The Circus Train, a novella-length essay in fragments about, to name a few, mortality, Samuel Beckett, and memory, I...
Work, Wonder, and Windows
June 2023 Welcome to my blog. First time here? Check out last month’s blog for info on my intentions for this space. Work: I’ve started on the next draft of my book, my untitled Armenian family memoir. The last draft I refused to begin with page one—I was sick of page...
Work, Wonder, and Windows
May 2023 One of my motivations to write is connecting with others, and that connection can’t begin until the work goes out into the world. As I am currently writing a book, it’s a long slog before that engagement can begin. So I’ve decided to reboot, revive, and...