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The Return of Kikos (short story)*
Armen of Armenia
Armen of Armenia was born in
1979. After earning his Bachelor’s
degree in Philosophy, he left the
capital, Yerevan, for seven years to
work as a teacher in a small,
faraway village on the Armenian-
Iranian border.
His first collection of short stories,
The Return of Kikos
,
published in 2013 brought the author wide recognition in
Armenia. His short story “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”
was selected and published this year in
Best European
Fiction
(Dalkey Archive Press). This year has also seen the
first novel from his
Mommyland
trilogy published.
The following story, “The Return of Kikos”, depends on
knowing an older tale, “The Death of Kikos”, beloved in
Armenia. So we are prefacing Armen’s work with the earlier
story here.
Translated from Armenian by Hayk Movsisian. Original
tale, “The Death of Kikos” by Hovhannes Tumanian (1913),
translated by Raffi Kojian.