Diana Der-Hovanessians Personal Influences on her Works

Diana Der-Hovanessian is a contemporary American poet of Armenian descent. Her literary contribution includes 25 books of poems and Armenian poetry translations into English. Der-Hovanessian’s upbringing in Worcester, Massachusetts shaped her early life as her family prospered and helped other Armenian immigrants find work and attend school. Her interest in translating Armenian poetry began when her father asked her to translate works of Armenian poet Daniel Varoujan. Since the 1980s Der-Hovanessian undertook this difficult and earlier neglected task of translating Armenian poetic heritage into English. She also wrote several plays, including Two Secrets of Survival and Growing up Armenian built around themes of Armenian-American identity and history. Armenian history told through poetry and music has been actively promoted by Der-Hovanessian since the 1980s among Armenian-American diaspora and the non-Armenian public in America. Diana Der-Hovanessian’s poems serve as a literary journey to the formulation of her personal and national identity. Through her poems Der- Hovanessian establishes her close connection with Armenian history, culture and the people who share common grief’s, fears and hopes. Armenian-Americans are descendants of ancient people from the Northeast region of Asia Minor dating back to over 2500 years ago. They lacked a homeland but have been spread in most regions of the world. Armenians in America came from Europe at the beginning of 1600s. The Armenian