Book Review: Perla Kantarjian's 'You Must Become Field'
Book Review: βYou Must Become Fieldβ
The Armenian Weekly reviews Lebanese Armenian poet Perla Kantarjian's debut collection "You Must Become Field," which explores themes of belonging, displacement and diaspora heritage. Moving between English, Armenian and Arabic, Kantarjian examines how Armenia, Lebanon and England shape identity across generations. The collection traces the Armenian experience beyond the genocide into broader histories of upheaval and survival, showing how Armenian and Lebanese cultures intertwine through family, food and shared memory rather than existing in separate compartments. The poet also explores encounters with British institutions and what it means to carry multiple homelands while living in diaspora. Through intimate domestic observations, Kantarjian addresses the unequal ways societies preserve history and access basic resources, ultimately transforming these tensions into an act of creative inheritance.
