Balakian awarded NEA creative writing fellowship

It appears 2003 is ending with a flourish for Colgate University professor Peter Balakian.

Balakian, who has won rave reviews for his latest book, The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response, was awarded a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts earlier this month.

He was one of 42 people receiving the $20,000 fellowships for 2004. They go to a variety of writers, from professors to auto-parts store managers, to help them hone their craft.

Balakian recently appeared on C-SPAN to discuss The Burning Tigris, and he was interviewed by Charlie Rose, whose TV show appears on 223 PBS affiliates across  the nation, on Dec. 12. (The show aired Jan. 1.)

 The New York Times named The Burning Tigris a Notable Book of 2003, and a Dec. 7 review called it ‘a sweeping, unremitting description of the killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.’

‘It’s wonderful honor to be selected as a New York Times notable book.  I’m gratified especially because it means a lot to see the book on the history of the Armenian genocide get such recognition in the mainstream,’ said Balakian.

Drawing on scores of U.S. State Department documents, recovered Turkish military records, and witness and survivor accounts, Balakian presents a brutally honest and at times unnerving account of the premeditated atrocities that occurred during the Armenian genocide.

Balakian’s book debuted at No. 4 on The Times’  bestseller list back in October, and it has appeared on the bestseller lists of the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly, which also named it one of the Best Books of 2003.

Balakian, the Constance H. and Donald M. Rebar Professor of the humanities at Colgate, is the author of seven books.  His memoir, Black Dog of Fate, won the 1998 Pen/Martha Albrand Award and a New York Times Notable Book accolade.