Remain in Light: Editor and Contributors in Conversation

Gassia Armenian is a curator and researcher at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, where she conducts collections research and manages exhibitions. She has curated notable exhibitions on Armenian textiles and diaspora, recognized by the Armenian Academy of Sciences in 2023, and pioneering shows featuring interactive technology. Her current exhibition focuses on the Ifugao people of the Philippines. Previously, she worked with USAID in Armenia on civics education curricula.

Tina Demirdjian is a poet and teaches poetry in schools and museums in Los Angeles. She is a culture bearer through her art practice, and founder of the Armenian Dress & Textile Project. She is the author of the poetry collection IMPRINT. She is on the Board at Brand Library & Art Center, where she co-facilitates ARTful Conversations in the gallery.

Arminé Iknadossian is the author of All That Wasted Fruit (Main Street Rag).In 2022, Iknadossian received two grants from the Arts Council of Long Beach to write her second volume of poetry. She has also received fellowships from Idyllwild Arts, The Los Angeles Writing Project and Otis College of Art and Design. She serves on the Advisory Board of IALA.

Arthur Kayzakian is the finalist for the 2024 Kate Tufts Award, and the winner of the 2021 inaugural Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series for his collection, The Book of Redacted Paintings (Black Lawrence Press, 2023), which was also selected as a finalist for the 2021 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. He is the recipient of the 2023 creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a founding member and serves as the Poetry Chair for the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA). His work has appeared in several publications, including The Adroit Journal, Chicago Review, Cincinnati Review, The Southern Review, among other journals.

Shahé Mankerian is principal of St. Gregory Hovsepian School in Pasadena and Director of Mentorship at the International Armenian Literary Alliance. A former co-director of the Los Angeles Writing Project, he is the author of History of Forgetfulness (2021), a semifinalist for the Khayrallah Prize and finalist for several national poetry awards.

Raffi Joe Wartanian is a writer, musician, and educator who teaches writing at UCLA and serves as the inaugural Poet Laureate in the City of Glendale, California. A 2025-2026 Laureate Fellow with the Academy of American Poets, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, Academy of American Poets, and elsewhere.