Portrait of Peter Balakian

Peter Balakian

Peter Balakian is the author of eight books of poems—including No Sign (University of Chicago Press, 2022); Ozone Journal (Chicago, 2015), which won the Pulitzer Prize; and Ziggurat (Chicago, 2010), a collection that deals with the aftermath of 9/11—and four books of prose, including Vise and Shadow: Selected Essays on the Lyric Imagination, Poetry, Art and Culture (Chicago, 2015) and the memoir Black Dog of Fate (Basic Books, 1997), which won the PEN/Albrand Prize. Among his other books are June-tree: New and Selected Poems 1974–2000, and The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response, which won the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize. He teaches creative writing at Colgate University. (updated 10/2023)

The Pulitzer-winning collection Ozone Journal contains two poems first published in AGNI, “Near the Border” and “Slum Drummers.” The long title poem is a sequel to “A-Train / Ziggurat / Elegy,” which was first excerpted in AGNI before appearing in his earlier collection Ziggurat.

Read Ani Kazarian’s review of Balakian’s collection Vise and Shadow: Essays on the Lyric Imagination, Poetry, Art, and Culture.

AGNI has published the following work:

A Poetry Reading in Diyarbakir

Essay by Peter Balakian

Walking the Ruined City

Poetry by Peter Balakian

Slum Drummers, Nairobi

Poetry by Peter Balakian

Near the Border

Poetry by Peter Balakian

Lowlands

Poetry by Peter Balakian

Carolyn Forché and the Poetry of Witness: Another View

Poetry by Peter Balakian

An Armenian Journal

Essay by Peter Balakian

East and West

Poetry by Peter Balakian

A Version of Paolo and Francesca

Poetry by Peter Balakian

To Arshile Gorky

Poetry by Peter Balakian

Arshile Gorky’s Embroidered Apron

Essay by Peter Balakian

Portrait Before Water

Poetry by Peter Balakian
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