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Zahrad (1924-2007)
By Khatchig Mouradian
 It
was first and foremost a loss for poetry when Zahrad passed
away on Feb. 21.
Zahrad (Zareh Yaldizciyan) was born in Istanbul in 1924. His
father, Movses, was a jurist, advisor and translator in the
Ottoman Foreign Ministry. His mother, Ankine Vartanian, was
born in Samatia.
Zahrad received his intermediate and secondary school
education at the Pangalti Mekhitariste School in Istanbul,
graduating in 1942. He briefly attended medical school
before he discontinued his university education to work. He
married Anayis Antreasian in November 1963.
From Zareh to Zahrad
“I was 18 when I started writing,” Zahrad told journalist
Talin Suciyan in the last interview he gave before his death
(Nokta, Jan. 25-31, 2007). “If I had signed my name under my
submissions to the newspapers, my family would have nagged
me to death, saying ‘You are dealing with such meaningless
stuff.’ To rescue myself from such words I made up the name
‘Zahrad.’ Time passed, my real name was forgotten, and
‘Zahrad’ became well-known.”
His first book, Medz Kaghak (big city), came out in
1960 in Istanbul. Kounavor Sahmanner (colored
borders, Istanbul, 1968); Gananch Hogh (green soil,
Paris, 1976); Pari Yergink (kind sky, Istanbul,
1971); Meg karov yergou karoun (two springs with one
stone, Istanbul, 1989); Magh me chour (a sieve of
water, Istanbul, 1995); Dzayre Dzayrin (a tight fit,
2001 Istanbul); and Choure baden Ver (water up the
wall, Istanbul, 2004) followed.
His poems are translated into 22 languages. Collections of
his poems have been published in English (“Gigo Poems by
Zahrad,” 1969, translated by Agop Hacikyan; “Zahrad,
Selected Poems,” 1974, translated by Ralph Setian); in
Turkish (“Zahrad: Yag Damlasi” published by Iyi Seyler,
1993, reprinted in 2000); “Yapracigi goren balik” (published
by Belge, 2002); “Isigini Sondurme Sakin” published by Adam,
2004); in Georgian (1997); and a number of other languages.
Enormous Oak Tree
“I prefer individuality in poetry. However, it does not make
sense to go against the esthetic understanding of the era.
My first 10-15 poems were written in classical style, in
which I was a master. Later, I discontinued writing in that
style, not because I was unsuccessful, but in order to
follow the fashion of the time. I am not talking about the
fashion of the mini-skirt, long hair, parting hair from the
side or from the middle…I am talking about an esthetic point
of view,” he told Suciyan during the interview for Nokta.
According to Levon Ananian, the president of Armenia’s
Writers’ Union, Zahrad was the “enormous oak tree” of
Diasporan poetry, and his literary legacy has left a deep
and lasting effect on modern Armenian poetry, both in the
Diaspora and Armenia.
“Zahrad creates a world where even the darkest shadows are
illuminated with compassion and humor, albeit couched in an
observer’s aloofness that acts as a shield for a very
sensitive soul,” said Tatul Sonentz, whose translations of
Zahrad are featured on page 9.
“Let me owe you a sieve of water,” Zahrad says in one of his
poems. Yet, we owe him a river of fresh, joyful water,
because that’s what he was for the sweet but melancholic
pond of Armenian poetry.
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