Trafika Europe 4 - Armenian Rhapsody

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.

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