A meeting with prose writer, children’s author, and science fiction writer Ruslan Saghbalyan took place at the Newmag Book Salon. The event, organized on the occasion of his 75th birthday, was attended by his close relatives, friends, and admirers of his work. As part of the Newmag & friends program, the Russian-language short story collection “The City Madman: Instructive Stories about Yerevan Residents and Other Inhabitants of the Earth” was presented.
Newmag has published the author’s science fiction novel “The School of Seven Galaxies” in the “Yeraz” series, with illustrations by Sona Babajanyan and translation by Hayk Harutyunyan.
“When my longtime friend Anna Saghbalyan suggested publishing Ruslan’s The School of Seven Galaxies in Armenian, my first reaction was: what a wonderful book — and most importantly, there are very few children’s books on the Armenian publishing market. So it was a pleasant surprise for us to meet Mr. Saghbalyan. We hope this acquaintance will be long-lasting,” said Newmag CEO Artak Aleksanyan at the presentation. He added that they expect long-term cooperation with Ruslan Saghbalyan.
“Thank you for publishing this beautiful book. I did not expect to have such a book published in Yerevan,” the writer said.
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Speaking about the collection “The City Madman: Instructive Stories about Yerevan Residents and Other Inhabitants of the Earth” and answering the question of who the city madman is, the author remarked: “Even me… All unusual people who differ from the majority or go against it are considered mad. A writer must go against the majority; it is a writer’s duty to be in the minority.”
In his view, literature does not educate anyone or solve such problems: “Literature has existed for thousands of years — has anyone really been educated by it? The educational function came from Soviet ideology… The real function of a writer is to evoke emotions: love, hatred, joy, tears, laughter… A creative person simply expresses this in a different way…”
Talking about his works, Ruslan Saghbalyan said that he “extracts” his main characters from within himself: “While doing so, I remember people I know, for example, our school principal… You just need to recall a specific person so that they come alive on paper.”
The writer added that in recent years he has not only been writing but also rereading classical and contemporary authors: “It seems to me that today’s literature is a remake of past literature, which is why I read the classics more. Right now, on my desk, there is Pushkin, Lermontov, Orwell…”
A video message was delivered by Ruslan Saghbalyan’s friend, Moscow-based writer Elena Chernikova, who also spoke about the collection “The City Madman: Instructive Stories about Yerevan Residents and Other Inhabitants of the Earth.”
Another friend, Aza Babayan, remarked: “Ruslan, my dear, you are not a city madman but a city dinosaur, and I demand that the dinosaur start a new book — and it must be an Armenian utopia. No one will write our utopia better; I demand that you write it… You are not only talented but also interesting as a writer, a man, and an intellectual.”
She also read a congratulatory message from Estonian writer, poet, playwright, and screenwriter Kalev Kasper, addressed to his friend Saghbalyan.
It should be added that Ruslan Saghbalyan’s multi-genre creative legacy includes science fiction, drama, and screenplays for feature films, animated films, and documentaries. He has served as head of the journalism and arts department of Literary Armenia, editor-in-chief of the Russian supplement of the newspaper Aragast, and editor-in-chief of several periodicals in Moscow.
He has received the Grand Prix of the Kyiv International Film Festival, the medal of the Moscow Writers’ Union, and the international “Golden Word” award of the Media Union. Ruslan Saghbalyan is a member of the Writers’ Unions of Armenia and Moscow, the author of more than 2,000 publications. His works have been translated into 15 languages.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
