Book presentation with Katia Karageuzian in-person on October 7th

The Zohrab Center warmly invites you to a book presentation and signing with Katia Tavitian Karageuzian on October 7th, who will present her memoir Forbidden Homeland: Story of a Diasporan. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.

2023 Literary Titan Gold Book Award recipient, Forbidden Homeland: Story of a Diasporan is Katia Tavitian Karageuzian’s debut memoir, in which she weaves her personal diasporic accounts to the events that have been shaping the Armenian reality in the past thirty years.

In 1988, a single innocent comment made at her college in southern California leads Katia to the discovery of long-lost relatives she knew nothing about. As she decides to find answers to questions she had struggled with all her life, Katia uncovers stunning family secrets that ultimately lead to a decades-long search for something even bigger than her own identity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Award-winning author, Katia Tavitian Karageuzian, Pharm. D. was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Growing up during the Lebanese civil war, she often found refuge in books, eventually developing a lifelong curiosity about historic figures and world events. In 1984, she immigrated to California with her family. She majored in Biology at Cal State University, Northridge, and in 1992 received her Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of Southern California where she also met her husband. The couple has two sons. After a long career at chain drug stores, she transitioned to hospital pharmacy in 2015. She currently practices as a pediatric specialty pharmacist. In parallel to her career in pharmacy, Karageuzian is also active in several non-profit organizations. She served for over a decade on the board of her local Homenetmen chapter, contributed articles to Asbarez newspaper, and is a member of the ANCA community.

In 2022, she published her inaugural book Forbidden Homeland: Story of a Diasporan. The memoir became a best seller in Ottoman/Armenian history in its first week of publication. It was very well received by the local Armenian community, garnering a turnout of over 200 strong at its “Kinetson” launch at the Glendale Central Library. Weaving her experiences of growing up in war-torn Lebanon with her journey to unveil the truth about the Armenian cause, Karageuzian strives to highlight stunning historic truths and invites the reader to retell the Armenian story based on the findings of current academic scholarship. She has given many interviews and talks including at Fresno State University, her alma mater USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy as well as several local high schools and organizations. The book is acclaimed for its thought-provoking and vivid writing style, its relatable American story of family and immigration, and its extensive research. Forbidden Homeland has won a 2023 Literary Titan Gold Book Award, a 2023 BookFest Award and a 2024 International Impact Book Award.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

“Forbidden Homeland immerses you in centuries of world-shaping history as its written pages become the rich landscape of a deeply personal journey…making you feel a part of it and reaching into your core. So it did to me. In her riveting odyssey to find the missing pieces of her own identity, Katia Tavitian Karageuzian takes the reader with her to uncover hidden truths and connect past with present. Dr. Karageuzian masterfully weaves her life’s unexpected twists and turns, layered within stories of Armenian Genocide, Lebanese Civil War, immigration, and current world events, and paints a vivid, living mosaic of the unique and shared experiences of exile and resilience, loss and rebirth, discovering finally that even when forbidden our homeland, if we search, we will find home.” – Ani Hovannisian Kevorkian, Filmmaker, The Hidden Map

“Every migrant finding a haven in America has bittersweet memories of the Old Country to hold and cherish. Karageuzian’s story stands out with the persistence of a dark shadow hovering over her picturesque description of a happy childhood interrupted by the terrors of Lebanese civil war. Halfway through her skillfully wrought narrative, the shadow closes in; she begins to untie the knots, and the narrative becomes the story of the Armenian Genocide through the lens of a third-generation survivor.” – Rubina Peroomian (PhD), Armenian Genocide Scholar, Author

“I am sure this enticingly timely volume will be read with great interest by researchers, and all readers interested in the recent turbulent history of Lebanon, the Middle East and Armenia.” – Tatul Sonentz-Papazian, Editor, Hai Sird