Renowned Canadian author presents her new book on the Armenian genocide

16 May, 2008

On May 16, 2008, the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia held a presentation for the novel "Daughter of war” by Marsha Forchuk Scrypuch, author of many popular books for children.

“Daughter of war” is the third book in a series of young adult novels, telling the stories of young Armenians who had survived the atrocities in the Ottoman Empire in the beginning of the 20th century. Two other books in the series are due to be published later this year.

In his welcoming speech, Mr. Arman Akopian, Chargé d’Affaires of Armenia in Canada, highly commended Mrs. Scrypuch’s work calling her “a true Ambassador for Armenia to the Planet of Childhood”.

Talking about her interest in the Armenian genocide, Marhsha Scrypuch said: “It's a hidden genocide, and it was the first genocide of the twentieth century. I didn't know about it, and that's why I have to write about it.'"

She started her literary work about the Armenian Genocide in the early 1990s, soon after she first heard about the Georgetown boys a group of Armenian orphans, Genocide survivors, who were brought to Canada in 1923. "I don't have a drop of Armenian blood, and I didn't even know any Armenians, ..., until about 1990 when I did a profile piece for a local magazine”, she said in one of her earlier interviews.

The actual writing of the novels was preceded by several years of extensive research on the issue. All the stories are based on firsthand accounts, although the characters in the books are fictional.

Mrs. Skrypuch presented excerpts from her new book, and answered numerous questions from the audience.

In 2006, the Armenian Embassy held a presentation of another book by Marsha Scripuch, “Aram’s Choice”, a story of one of the Georgetown boys. The book received excellent reviews and was shortlisted for the 2007 Canadian Library Association Children's Book of the Year Award. In the beginning of May 2008 a theatrical production based on the novel was staged by the Georgetown Little Theatre Youth Company with tremendous success.

One of Marsha Scripuch’s earlier novels about the Genocide, "Nobody's Child", was nominated for the Red Maple Award, the Alberta Rocky Mountain Book Award, and the B.C. Stellar Award.

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