DARK VALLEY, THE

By Aksel Bakunts, Translated by Nairi Hakverdi, Introduction by Victoria Rowe This book is made up of 18 short stories depicting provincial life in the early years of Soviet Armenia. Aksel Bakunts (b. Alexander Stepan Tevosyan, 1899-1937), on e of the rising stars of Soviet Armenian literature, was known as a masterful short story writer. Always outspoken, his first publication, a satirical account of the mayor of Goris, earned him a stint in jail in 1915. He subsequently served as an Armenian volunteer in the battles of Erzerum, Kars, and Sardarabad. Between 1915 and 1919 he was a teacher, proof-reader, and reporter in Yerevan. IN 1920 he was accepted to the Kharkov Institute in Ukraine to study agriculture. After graduation in 1923, he worked as an agronomist in Zangezur, a region of Armenia that features prominently in his short stories. From 1926, he settled in Yerevan where he quickly established reputation as a gifted writer with his first collection of short stories entitled Mtnadzor (The Dark Valley). Armenian Literature in Translation series Gomidas Institute (2008)