Author Dana Mashoian Walrath on Art and Genocide

Vermont-based author and artist Dana Mashoian Walrath discussed her new graphic novel "The Book of Genocides" in an interview with The Armenian Weekly. The work, which evolved from an interactive art installation, examines ten genocides through varied artistic methods including collage, poetry, and illustration. Mashoian Walrath, a descendant of Armenian Genocide survivors, explained her selection criteria emphasized separating perpetrators—governments—from entire populations. She stressed the importance of distinguishing critiques of government actions from prejudice against ethnic or religious groups. The book covers the Armenian Genocide alongside nine others spanning different continents, perpetrators, and time periods, including the Holocaust, Cambodian Genocide, and Rohingya Genocide. Published by Harvard University Press, the work aims to contextualize these historical atrocities through multiple artistic perspectives.