Poet Alicia Ghiragossian of Glendale has been nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature, making her the first person of Armenian descent ever nominated in any of the categories. "At times, I feel like I'm walking on clouds__ I have not totally awakened to the fact that I've been nominated," she said. She was born in Argentina to Armenian parents and has made her home in Glendale for 18 years. Although this writer is not widely known in the United States, she has been published regularly in Armenia since 1067, and is one of that country's national treasures. Her nomination was supported by hundreds of intellectuals and the highest representatives of the Republic of Armenia, headed by the president of the nation, Dr. Levon Ter-Petrossian, as well as the presidents of the National Academy and others. "I've been loved and honored by the Armenian people for three decades," she said. Ghiragossian also said that she likes to spend her free time with her 23-year-old daughter Lara, who is a political science major at San Francisco State.

Paul Clinton's article in the Glendale News Press on Sep/6/96: