Our guest on today’s episode is Nyree Abrahamian, co-founder of the Tumanyan International Storytelling Festival, and co-host of the award-winning podcast Country of Dust. We’ll be exploring the versatility of storytelling and its ability to build connection, process collective pain and cultivate joy. Nyree also gives us a sneak peek into Season 2 of Country of Dust and reflects on the ways she’s keeping storytelling dynamic and relevant in a changing Armenia.
Nyree Abrahamian is a writer, creative producer and community builder. She was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, and has called Yerevan home for the past several years. She is 1/3 of the trio behind the award-winning Country of Dust podcast, which tells the stories of life in a changing Armenia.
Nyree’s poetry is featured in literary magazines such as Mizna, Nimrod International Journal, and Poetry Northwest. And she is currently working on her first collection, which centers narratives of resistance and rupture in Artsakh and her ancestral home, Musa Ler.
In addition to her personal creative practice, Nyree believes in building community through stories. She co-founded the Tumanyan International Storytelling Festival, a three-day celebration of the narrative arts that takes place in Lori. Nyree is co-chair of the International Armenian Literary Alliance’s Yerevan chapter, and she was a 2023 Creative Armenia Fellow.
Before immersing herself in the arts, Nyree was a full-time educator and program designer, and she continues to believe deeply in the transformative power of education. She has a BA in English from York University and an Ed.M. in International Education Policy from Harvard University.
Her most recent publication is Artsakh: A Taste of Home, a book of stories and recipes from Artsakhtsi women that she co-authored with Aline Kamakian and Scout Tufankjian.
