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Alicia Ghiragossian
Alicia Ghiragossián was born in Argentina, where her parents found refuge escaping from genocide.
She graduated as a Juris Doctor from the National University of Buenos Aires, and in 1971 she esta...ver másAlicia Ghiragossián was born in Argentina, where her parents found refuge escaping from genocide.
She graduated as a Juris Doctor from the National University of Buenos Aires, and in 1971 she established her residence in Los Angeles, USA, where she married and had a daughter, Lara. At present she is divorced and resides in Glendale, California.
This author of 61 volumes, most of them poetry, is the only poet who writes in three languages: English, Spanish and Armenian, and the only living poet whose work has been illustrated by the legendary Pablo Picasso. Perhaps in his eyes she had the uncommon ability to dissect the soul through words the same way the great artist severed his images on the canvas.
She started writing in Spanish when she was fourteen years old, and her first poem was published at the age of sixteen. Her meteoric rise to fame occurred in 1967, when she won a prize in Europe with her second book, which had been translated into Italian. The book was published in Italy with illustrations of Picasso, Fontana, Petorutti, Presta and Le Parc.
Immediately after, a selection of her poems, translated into Armenian, appeared in the literature vault of Soviet Armenia. The book, published in Yerevan, capital of Armenia, was an instant best seller and she became an overnight legend.
For the first time in that country, and perhaps in universal history, a black market for poetry was created. Newspapers that published a new poem of hers would sell for twenty times its original price.
It was a whirlwind in the field of poetry at all levels, from factory workers to academicians, and a legion of admirers and followers of her work was born. Her poems were read and sung all over the country.
Inspired by her poetry, several artists sculpted her bust and painted her portrait. The news media echoed her creations and announced the birth of a star. They called her work a monumental cross stone, miracle poetry and a phenomenon. The volumes published in Armenian, after the second one, didn’t need translation. They were written in Armenian, directly by her.
Her merit is not only in her talent to express her most subtle ideas, feelings and perceptions. One of her missions is to resurrect the love for poetry by adding sound to it, through her readings.
Some medical doctors in Armenia have stated that her recorded voice, reading her poems, has a soothing and mesmerizing effect in their patients, provoking a change in them at a cellular level. They are convinced that her voice and poetry have healing powers.
Her impact in Armenia has been indelible and historical. Since her first book, Armenian poetry has been divided into before and after Ghiragossián, as she influenced and inspired writers with her wording, style and amazing imagery.
Since 1992, her manuscripts and bronze bust are kept at the National Museum of Art and Literature of Armenia. In 1997 she was granted the Honorary Citizenship of Armenia. And since 2008, Alicia Ghiragossián, is an Honorary Doctor of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.
In South America, some composers, such as internationally acclaimed Argentine tango icon Astor Piazzolla, have composed music inspired by her poetry.
Argentine renowned writers have expressed their amazement toward her work: Jorge Luis Borges, Ulises Petit de Murat, Cesar Tiempo, Bernardo Koremblit and many others, as well as Argentine great painters who illustrated her work: Urruchúa, Bruzzone, Policastro and Grandi.
In the United States of America Dr. Ghiragossián has conducted a workshop in Modern Poetry at UCLA, given lectures at universities in different states, and participated in national congresses of literature.
Her work has been published in Italian, Persian, Greek and French and has also been translated into Portuguese, Russian and Swedish.
At the University of San Pablo, Brazil, her work was the subject of a thesis for a Ph.D. in Literature.
The poet has traveled through several countries in Europe and South America, with poetry recitals and lectures, and has participated in world congresses of poetry (Spain, Morocco, Greece).
She advocates for a new poetry liberated from old rules, for the elimination of rhymes, for the construction of internal rhythms, the synthesis and economy of the expression, the suggestion, and the abolition of anecdotic discourses or rhetoric proclamations. She is also in favor of eliminating the external descriptions of landscapes. Her landscapes are those of the soul, the mind and the heart. She is interested in essences and depth.
Although attached to her Armenian roots, her voice is not local, it has a universal range. Her vision of the world and her connection with other dimensions make us think she channels the spirits of the great poets and philosophers in history. That makes her multifaceted, transcendental, and meta-dimensional work resonate in the hearts of her admirers.
Dr. Ghiragossián is convinced that poetical expressions are formidably mighty, they transcend language, and their energy is directly captured by the soul, which grows in refinement under the influence of poetry that elevates.
There is an ever present quest for Love in the folds of her verses; a Love that outspreads to Peace, her Roots, Motherhood, Truth and spiritual beauty.
Reading her lines we are convinced that Love possesses the magical influence to purify, transport, elevate and recreate the being; that it is the key to open the roads to an elevated state of being. It is the path for the alchemical miracle to metamorphose the impure into the pure, as she formulates it. She understands that the lack of Love in the world opens the roads to pain, isolation, fear, injustice, genocide and wars. She comments: Humanity needs to comprehend the weight of Love. We must inject it into all relationships, in pursuit of a validating life. Her verdict is final: she found her Holy Grail! Love is the supreme code, the final seal, the Alpha and the Omega… of everything.
She is, without any doubt, profoundly idealistic. She rebels against the corruption in society, the vanities, shallowness, the game of interests, the corrosion of envy and other human weaknesses, and brings a new scope through her perceptions. Basically, her objective is to provoke a shift of consciousness in humankind toward spiritual values.
Her work has been admired by innumerable legendary poets of Armenia: Shiraz, Sevak, Emin and Kaputikian, among others. And she is considered the last bastion of the Armenian Renaissance in poetry.
Ghiragossián has earned hundreds of testimonials. She has conquered the respect and endorsement of several world icons and Nobel Peace Laureates, such as His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez, president of Costa Rica, and John Hume, member of the British Parliament.
Likewise, giants of international stature, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Juana de Ibarbourou, Jacques Prevert, and William Saroyan have praised the truth and beauty of her verses.
A significant number of articles and reviews appeared highlighting her extraordinary creative talent, including the Los Angeles Journal and the Book Wire Review. And President Barack Obama has wished her success.
In the volume Alicia G: the Poet-Philosopher of the New Millennium (2008, 2010), author Robert Danielak portrays her creations as phenomenal masterpieces and genius. He considers her style and theories provoke a shift in the conscience. The book features groundbreaking theories: Meta-dimension, Soul DNA, Quantum Seed and TEIWAS Energy Factor. They emerge as meteors to change the face of poetry and revolutionize the way academicians, poetry lovers and readers look at poetry and even at their own lives. Danielak links the poet’s caliber with those who elevated humankind, be them poets such as Rumi, Gibran, Neruda, Shakespeare and Blake, or philosophers, such as Hegel, Sartre and Kierkegaard, making Ghiragossián one of the premier thinkers of our time, and the alchemist who creates timeless and spaceless new realities.
The creation of Dr. Alicia Ghiragossián is a valuable contribution to the world for the evolution of mind and soul. Her poetry inspires introspection and growth toward a Culture of Ethics, and a Culture of Divinity and Love.ver menos