Hamazkayin Announces Winners of 2014 Tölölyan Prize

WATERTOWN, Mass.—The Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society of the Eastern United States this week announced the winners of the second Minas and Kohar Tölölyan Prize in Contemporary Literature. Aida Zilelian was chosen for her work, The Legacy of Lost Things, and Arto Payaslian (Vaun) was chosen for his collection of poetry, entitled Isinglass.

Zilelian is a fiction writer whose stories have appeared in numerous journals and several anthologies. Her first novel, The Hollowing Moon, was one of the first runners-up of the Anderbo Novel Award. Her second novel, The Legacy of Lost Things, is about an Armenian family who immigrated to Queens, N.Y., and their struggles to assimilate to the American culture. The Legacy of Lost Things was recently accepted for publication (Bleeding Heart Publications) and is slotted for release in July 2014.