Book talk by Alice Ketabgian and Dr. Tamara Ketabgian. Organized by the Ararat-Eskijian Museum and Research Center and co-sponsored by the Promise Armenian Institute and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research.
Sunday, February 15, 2026
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Ararat-Eskijian Museum, Sheen Chapel
15105 Mission Hills Rd
Mission Hills, CA 91345
The presentation will also be live-streamed and made available in a few days after the lecture on the Ararat-Eskijian Museum's YouTube channel
When Yevkiné returns to Istanbul, forty years after her departure as a small child, she faces the chance of a lifetime. There, she meets her cousin and begins to uncover the dark family secrets that still remain within her ancestors' homeland. Unfolding amid laughter and tears, this moving historical novel traces the path of the Balyan family during the deportations of 1915 and beyond, as they build new lives for themselves. Their story begins in a picturesque small town near the southern coast of the Black Sea, continues through Istanbul's ancient quarters, to Marseille and Saint-Etienne, and eventually ends on the shores of New Jersey. Spanning both World Wars and the Spanish Civil War. The Mayor of Inebolu explores complex questions surrounding intermarriage, religious tolerance, wartime trauma, and the historical legacy of Armenian and Turkish relations. Throughout, the novel asks: 'What does it mean to remember the pain of the past while still looking toward the future?'
Alice Ketabgian was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, and is a descendant of survivors of the Armenian Genocide. She received her education in Istanbul. Upon her arrival in Southern California, she attended UCLA to receive an M.S. in human physiology. Later, she completed requirements to practice as a registered dietitian. In 2015 she published her family memoir, 'Life in Istanbul: One Family's Odyssey'.
Tamara Ketabgian is Professor of English and the William and Gayle Keefer Chair of the Humanities at Beloit College. She is the author of 'The Lives of Machines: The Industrial Imaginary in Victorian Literature and Culture'