I am proud to say I moderated Arachneer (which means “firsts” in Armenian). This event (a reading and panel) featured Armen Ohanyan, Kamee Abrahamian, Nancy Agabian, Arlene Avakian, and Michael Barakiva who all spoke about their work’s relationship to the queer, Armenian, and queer Armenian communities, and their understanding of the sometimes paradoxical nature of being a “first”.

Each of these writers, working in various genres, and representing diverse gender, sexual orientation, age, class, and geographical backgrounds, has achieved a historical first and in one case, two: Arlene Avakian is not just the author of the first Armenian American memoir by a queer woman, but the first Armenian American memoir by any woman.