New Books
Friends: A Sequel
A book of poetry dedicated to friendship. Childhood is a time of beginnings: being many beginnings, with various people, in particular those of a similar age, in a place that was our own, unaware at the start of its hold on us; that we would never completely outgrow, even if its shaping of us was temporary, because the mark it left on us was indelible, for it was here that we first learned of friendship, with its enduring effect on us, preserved in memory to include the rudiments and particularities of our town, that we would never completely outgrow, with treasured moments and friendships permanently stored in our subconscious, being our growing consciousness that was shaping us then.
And no matter how early or late our departure from that singular place, with the time it takes for its truth to put its hold on us, to realize, perhaps very late, that our special time was and would ever remain a touchstone for us.
It is the artist that recaptures what can easily be lost; what others might forget, outgrow, reject, or sadly, no longer remember—that is, of that special time that was once completely ours to hold. But the artist remembers—all of it, because all of it collectively makes for one life, there inside that place within us enshrined, that can holds fast in permanence those enduring moments when we touched our truth, to be slowly deciphered in our life long struggle to realize ourself; to know our fate and our destiny, that began in childhood with special friends in a special place, seen now again for us to re-enter it in memory, to extract its truth for the immortal life of our Being.
David of Sassoun
The Story of David of Sassoun is an Armenian oral epic we know only from outline; the “translators” have essentially reconstructed it. Here is a telling by David Kherdian, one of America’s most prolific Armenian authors, with an original and well told version. This is Kherdian’s most ambitious work, and will be a classic.
Remembering Island Park
In this elegy to the place of his youth, the poems of David Kherdian reflect on the park created by Jens Jensen, the famous landscape artist, who had designed many of Racine's landmarks, that had profoundly effected Kherdian's childhood and youth, to find there the foundations of his art, that came much later when he was grown and could look back at influences that had guided him, none more important than Island Park and the river that flowed there, to become his abiding symbol for transformation and truth, that would characterize his life as an artist.
A New Day
David Kherdian here burnished his reputation as a mystic poet continuously, from book to book, starting in 1970 with his elegiac title poem on the death of his father. He has grown with each decade since, and now with this book length collection, his first major work in years, which follows his long flight from and return to America in this troubled time of our republic. The suffering and spiritual growth he has experienced, has taken him deeper and deeper into himself, into a further awakening of the truth of his existence, with his healing transcendence, as actualized and realized in this book, the most important in his career since the classic, The Dividing River / The Meeting Shore.
A Place in Time
A poetic glimpse into the heart of an American Factory Town
David Kherdian’s memoir, A PLACE IN TIME, blends prose and poetry to perfectly capture the sights, sounds, and spirit of his factory hometown, where everyone participated for the common good; when peace and trust, and a sense of wholeness, and mutual sharing was experienced by everyone. And it is for this reason that we are taken in nostalgically by his memoir, with a longing for a time in America that we feel is in urgent need of recovery .
Becoming a Writer
Join David Kherdian as he delves deeply into his past and details the friendships, experiences, and places in time that led to his becoming a writer.
A simple beginning…
It all starts in Racine, Wisconsin as we follow David roaming town with his gang of friends—walking up and down the streets of their small factory town, meeting up at the local hamburger joint, shining shoes for spare pocket change. These sights and sounds of honest-to-goodness Americana will undoubtedly mesh with those of our own and take us on a stroll to reclaim a part of us that may have been lost but certainly was not forgotten.
We all have a story tell…
Becoming a Writer is more than just a memoir. In detailing the defining moments of his life, author/poet David Kherdian also provides us with a guide to help capture the magic within our own lives, put it to paper, and ultimately share it with the world.
We are the moments that shape us…
Every conversation, every minute on the job, every daydream, every chance encounter—these moments all add up to something much greater than the sum of their parts.
If cultivated properly, each of these seemingly disjointed fragments of time can spark magic within and help us become who we are truly meant to be in this world.
Pandemic
Writing from his home in the hills of Black Mountain, poet David Kherdian shares his thoughts on the pandemic of 2020 through simple, unobtrusive verses- providing grace, prayer, and deliverance for all those in need.
We weren't ready for so much time alone
As much as the doctors are tackling the physical aspects of the pandemic, the average household was simply not ready for such a massive lock-down and so much alone time. We are after all social beings and life is quite unfamiliar without the physical interactions with our loved ones. Even as we are separated from friends and family, the poems in Pandemic will help us all confront the situation head-on, learn more about ourselves, and come out stronger than we ever were before.
Black Mountain Home
In Black Mountain Home, David Kherdian returns to his poetic roots with a collection that truly captures the essence of what it means to be alive. Drawing inspiration from the lush mountainscapes of North Carolina, he takes the reader on an unforgettable backwoods sojourn as he describes nature's raw pureness with elegant simplicity.
Awakening
The book Awakening by David Kherdian is divided into two sections: Time Past and Time Past and Present. The first section consists of uncollected poems from a large manuscript that resulted in two books: The Neighborhood Years and, much later, Nearer the Heart, being poems David revised annually, until he felt they were ready for publication. The second, Time Past and Present, contains several poems that belong thematically to that earlier period of his life, with occasional poems composed over the years, and concluding with new work from his present residence in Asheville, NC.
Blackfoot / Whitefoot
James Willard Schultz was the first white man to penetrate the Blackfeet tribe, participating in their rituals, buffalo hunts, horse trading and stealing, all the while keeping notes, with the intention of one day recording their history. When his wife died he left the tribe and moved to California, where he began to write stories, novels and memoirs of his time with the Blackfeet Indians of Montana. This biography of his early years with the tribe is an outstanding adventure story and also a love story of two people, who are strangers to each other at the start, but grow in understanding and love through their devotion to one another.