Vahé Oshagan

Vahé Oshagan (; 1922 – June 30, 2000) was an Armenian poet, writer, and literary critic.

Life Vahé Oshagan was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in 1922. His father, Hagop Oshagan, was a prominent writer and critic. Raised in Cairo, Jerusalem, and Cyprus, he studied in France and received a doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Sorbonne, in Paris.

Literary output Vahe Oshagan, who also wrote short stories and novels, "reformed Armenian poetry by rejecting its imposed formality, which shunned the concerns of daily life and themes of alienation and loss." He often wrote in colloquial language and was for many the voice of the Armenian diaspora. His second book, The City (Քաղաքը), published in 1963, became "the most radical book of Armenian poetry in the 20th century," according to Marc Nichanian, a former professor of Armenian studies at Columbia University. He was also the editor in chief of the literary journal Raft: an Annual of Poetry and Criticism, between 1987 and 1998. The journal published English translations of Armenian poetry, as well as essays and reviews. Many leading critics considered Oshagan the most important Armenian-language poet in exile. Nichanian has called Vahe Oshagan "the most important poet of his generation." According to him, "for a long time his work was not even accepted as poetry. He had a hard time imposing himself as poet."

None of Vahe Oshagan's work has been published in English. A translation of his book Alert by British poet Peter Reading awaits publication.

Selected works (1956) Badouhan ( (Window)) (1963) Kaghak ( (City)) (1971) Karoughi ( (Crossroads)) (1980) Ahazank ( (Alert)) (1983) Khoujab ( (Panic)) (1987) Pakhstagane ( (The Fugitive)) (1988) Tagardin shurch (, (Around the trap)) (1996) Inknoutiun (, (Identity))