Micheline Aharonian Marcom
Encyclopedia
Micheline Aharonian Marcom (born 1968) is an important American novelist of Armenian
descent.
, Saudi Arabia
in 1968 to an American father and an Armenian-Lebanese mother. She grew up in Los Angeles, but, as a child in the years before the Lebanese Civil War
, she spent summers in Beirut
with her mother's family. Her first book, Three Apples Fell from Heaven (2001), set in Turkey
between 1915–1917, depicts the Ottoman
government's genocide of the Armenian
population and was named one of the best books of the year by both The Washington Post
and The Los Angeles Times. Her second book in the trilogy, The Daydreaming Boy (2004), which earned her the 2004 Lannan Literary Fellowship as well as the 2005 PEN/USA Award for Fiction, is centered on a haunted middle-aged genocide survivor living in 1960’s Beirut, itself facing imminent collapse. Her third book, Draining the Sea (2008), is a fiercely critical novel of America's complicit involvement in Guatemala's civil war.
Marcom’s fourth novel, originally titled “The Edge of Love,” referring to Clarice Lispector
's story “That’s Where I’m Going,” but published as The Mirror in the Well (2008), is an exquisite and at the same time terrifying account of an episode in the life of a woman who realizes that she is trapped in the painfully quotidian traffic of American urban life and its culture.
Marcom lives in Northern California where she teaches Creative Writing at Mills College in Oakland, California
.
San Francisco Chronicle:
The New York Times Book Review:
Publishers Weekly:
Kirkus:
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
descent.
Life and Work
Micheline Aharonian Marcom was born in DhahranDhahran
Dhahran is a city located in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, and is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Large oil reserves were first identified in the Dhahran area in 1931, and in 1935 Standard Oil of California drilled the first commercially viable oil well...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
in 1968 to an American father and an Armenian-Lebanese mother. She grew up in Los Angeles, but, as a child in the years before the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
, she spent summers in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
with her mother's family. Her first book, Three Apples Fell from Heaven (2001), set in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
between 1915–1917, depicts the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
government's genocide of the Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
population and was named one of the best books of the year by both The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
and The Los Angeles Times. Her second book in the trilogy, The Daydreaming Boy (2004), which earned her the 2004 Lannan Literary Fellowship as well as the 2005 PEN/USA Award for Fiction, is centered on a haunted middle-aged genocide survivor living in 1960’s Beirut, itself facing imminent collapse. Her third book, Draining the Sea (2008), is a fiercely critical novel of America's complicit involvement in Guatemala's civil war.
Marcom’s fourth novel, originally titled “The Edge of Love,” referring to Clarice Lispector
Clarice Lispector
Clarice Lispector was a Brazilian writer. Acclaimed internationally for her innovative novels and short stories, she was also a journalist...
's story “That’s Where I’m Going,” but published as The Mirror in the Well (2008), is an exquisite and at the same time terrifying account of an episode in the life of a woman who realizes that she is trapped in the painfully quotidian traffic of American urban life and its culture.
Marcom lives in Northern California where she teaches Creative Writing at Mills College in Oakland, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Awards
- 2006 Whiting Writers' Award
- 2005 PEN/USA Award for Fiction
- 2004 Lannan Foundation Literary Fellowship
Reviews
Publishers Weekly:Through [its] vivid imagery, Marcom gives voice to the essence of obsession and sexuality while tracing the deterioration of relationships. [The Mirror in the Well] is a cultural, feminist and human statement, but at its core, it is an unrestrained exploration of the intersection of emotion and physical desires.
San Francisco Chronicle:
Marcom's prose is nothing short of gorgeous.
The New York Times Book Review:
The fierce beauty of her prose both confronts readers with many breathtaking cruelties and carries us past them.
Publishers Weekly:
Her writing is mellifluous, so poetically inflected at times as to lull the reader into a trance.
Kirkus:
Marcom's language is always fervent, whether gorgeous or foul.
External links
- Author's website
- Interview, KCRW
- "Interview with Micheline Aharonian Marcom," Shushan Avagyan, Context N°22, Dalkey Archive Press, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- "(Un)Disciplining Traumatic Memory: Mission Orphanages and the Afterlife of Genocide in Micheline Aharonian Marcom’s The Daydreaming Boy," Rebecca Saunders and Shushan Avagyan, Contemporary Women's Writing 2010, Oxford Journals