Mariam Petrosyan ( hy, Մարիամ Պետրոսյան, born 10 August 1969) is an Armenian painter, cartoonist and

Russian-language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living Eas ...

novelist. She is most well known as the author of the award-winning novel '' The Gray House'' (2009), translated into eight languages.

Biography

Mariam Petrosyan was born in 1969 in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

, the capital of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

. After finishing at art college she became a cartoonist at the Studio of

Armenfilm Armenfilm (russian: Арменфильм; hy, Արմենֆիլմ), also known as Hayfilm ( hy, Հայֆիլմ), is an Armenian film studio located in Yerevan. The studio was founded on 16 April 1923 as a production unit of the Soviet State Cinem ...

. Later she moved to Moscow to work at

Soyuzmultfilm Soyuzmultfilm ( rus, Союзмультфи́льм, p=səˌjʉsmʊlʲtˈfʲilʲm , ''Union Cartoon'') (also known as SMF Animation Studio in English, Formerly known as Soyuzdetmultfilm) is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. Launched in ...

, but came back to Yerevan in 1995 and returned to Armenfilm. She worked there until 2007. Her first novel, ''The Gray House'' (Russian: «Дом, в котором...», literally: ''The House, In Which...''), tells of a boarding school for

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

children and was published in Russian in 2009, becoming a bestseller. It was nominated for the

Russian Booker Prize The Russian Booker Prize (russian: Русский Букер, ''Russian Booker'') was a Russian literary award modeled after the Booker Prize. It was awarded from 1992 to 2017. It was inaugurated by English Chief Executive Sir Michael Harris C ...

in 2010 and received several awards and nominations, among them the 2009 Russian Prize for the best book in Russian by an author living abroad. The book has been translated into

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

(''La casa del tempo sospeso'', 2011), Hungarian (''Abban a házban'', 2012),

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

(''Dom, w którym...'', 2013),

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

(''La casa de los otros'', 2015), French (''La Maison dans laquelle'', 2016),

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

(''Dům, ve kterém'', 2016), and Macedonian (''Домот во кој...'', 2016) languages. The worldwide English edition came out on 25 April 2017, from AmazonCrossing; it has been shortlisted for the 2018 Read Russia Prize. Selling rights for

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

, Latvian and

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

translations were also announced by Petrosyan's literary agency. Excerpts from the novel (in English translation by Andrew Bromfield) were narrated by

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

in the film ''Russia's Open Book: Writing in the Age of Putin''.''Russia's Open Book: Writing in the Age of Putin''
(excerpt). The only other book by the author to date is a short fairy tale, ''The Dog Who Could Fly'' (Russian: «Сказка про собаку, которая умела летать», 2014).

Personal life

Mariam is married to Armenian graphic artist Artashes Stamboltsyan. They have two children. She is a great-granddaughter of the painter

Martiros Saryan Martiros Saryan ( hy, Մարտիրոս Սարյան; russian: Мартиро́с Сарья́н; – 5 May 1972) was a Soviet Armenian painter, the founder of a modern Armenian national school of painting. Biography He was born into an Armenia ...

References

External links

The Voice of RussiaOne Flew Over the White Crow’s NestMariam Petrosyan Becomes A Russian Prize LaureateBig Book of Mariam Petrosyan
(in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrosyan, Mariam 1969 births Living people Armenian women novelists Armenian novelists 20th-century Armenian novelists 21st-century Armenian novelists 20th-century Armenian women writers 21st-century Armenian women writers Writers from Yerevan Russian-language writers Armenian expatriates in Russia