Featured Speakers:
Alice Ketabgian
Dr. Tamara Ketabgian
Date: Sunday February 15, 2026
7:00 PM EST | 4:00 PM PST
Location:
Ararat-Eskijian Museum/Sheen Chapel
15105 Mission Hills Rd
Mission Hills, 91345
Click here for the presentation live stream.
When Yevkine returns to Istanbul, forty years after her departure as a small child, she faces the chance of a lifetime. There, she meets her cousin and begins to uncover the dark family secrets that still remain within her ancestors' homeland. Unfolding amid laughter and tears, this moving historical novel traces the path of the Balyan family during the deportation of 1915 and beyond, as they build new lives for themselves.
Their story begins in a picturesque small town near the southern coast of the Black Sea, continues through Istanbul's ancient quarters, to Marseille and Saint-Etienne, and eventually ends on the shores of New Jersey.
Spanning both World Wars and the Spanish Civil War, The Mayor of Inebolu explores complex questions surrounding intermarriage, religious tolerance, wartime trauma, and the historical legacy of Armenian and Turkish relations. Along the way, we encounter love stories, tragedies and unexpected acts of kindness. Throughout, the novel asks: what does it mean to remember the pain of the past while still looking toward the future?
Alice Ketabgian was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, and is a descendant of survivors of the Armenian Genocide. She received her education from Aramyan Ounchiyan Elementary School in Kadikoy, followed by education at Uskudar Amerikan Kiz Lisesi in Uskudar, Istanbul. Upon her arrival in Southern California, she attended UCLA to receive an M.S. in human physiology. Later, she completed requirements to practice as registered dietitian. In 2015 she published her family memoir, Life in Istanbul: One Family's Odyssey.
Tamara Ketabgian is the Professor of English and William and Gayle Keefer Chair of the Humanities at Beloit College. She is the author of The Lives of Machines: The Industrial Imaginary in Victorian Literature and Culture.
Co-sponsors:
Ararat-Eskijian Museum and Research Center (AEMRC)
Promise Armenian Institute (PAI)
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)