Written Art Award: Avant-garde Novel Journey to Virginland

Los Angeles, February 28, 2012 - California author Armen Melikian won one of the two 2012 Written Art Awards in the General Fiction Category for his novel Journey to Virginland: Epistle I.

Journey to Virginland is "a nihilistic sojourn through fictional Virginland in search of enlightenment," wrote Monique Muro of the Long Beach Book Examiner. Muro added: "Every once in a while, a book comes along that shakes up the foundation of what we know to be true. Armen Melikian accomplishes just this in Journey to Virginland. Everything we know about the evolution of religion, war, and social mores, are all up for grabs in Melikian's biting satire."

"I am honored that Journey to Virginland was chosen for this award from among hundreds of books," said Melikian, who has garnered three other literary awards this year.

The anti-hero of the author's novel, named simply Dog, travels through a fictional replica of the known world and recounts his experiences, contextualizing them with powerful commentaries on history, religion, mythology, and the gender wars. Critic Kam Aures of Rebecca's Reads writes of Dog's odyssey: "In this unique work there exists Dreamland, which contains locales such as Pharaohland, Allahland, Socratesland, WhiteBearland, and Napoleonland, [while] the physical United States as we know it is named Satanland. In Virginland resides God, in Satanland resides Satan."

Aures adds: "Melikian has created a very intelligently written original work of fiction. Journey to Virginland is a book quite out of the ordinary."

In addition to Aures' review, Melikian has received praise from a cross section of prestigious critics. Publishers Weekly wrote: "Dog vs. God. In an iconoclastic story, Dog demolishes the foundations of Western civilization." ForeWord Reviews stated: "An engrossing, brilliantly crafted read. A searing commentary on the earth and its inhabitants through the canine eyes of Dog. Melikian is an astonishing writer who teaches his reader about the world and the human condition through tragedy and humor."And Paige Lovitt of Reader Views wrote: "Journey to Virginland is a novel that is completely different than anything that I have ever read before."

Commenting on the significance of the Written Art Award, Melikian said, "It is uplifting to see that the literary community as a whole is embracing a book that may best be categorized as anti-literature, one that gleefully inverts the conventions of the novel."

Melikian continued: "I applaud the courage of the Written Art Awards judges for bestowing one of only two prizes in General Fiction to an avant-garde work, a novel that detonates a nuclear bomb at the very foundations of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Without a doubt, this is a clear indication of the judges' open-mindedness and impartiality."

Book blogger Katie Hale of Arkansas wrote of Journey to Virginland: "From the first page I was pulled in and intrigued by the oddities I was reading. Not a typical romance, mystery or even suspense novel - this book takes a look at things from a level I've never went to. Imagine complete blatant honesty without worry of censorship about religion, sexuality, war, politics and relationships and you will have a good idea of the book I am speaking of."

Hale continued: "I am shocked to read a book of this honesty, this literary caliber, this level of brilliance, in our time. I only wish it could become the Twilight of this time - a book that sweeps across the social classes and impacts everyone opening their eyes to the destruction WE have created in our world - the lies we have covered up and the hypocrisy that plagues what used to be Christianity and Faith."

Journey to Virginland is already available in both hardcover edition and electronic format through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. For more information and a list of booksellers worldwide, visit JourneyToVirginland.com

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About the author: Armen Melikian holds a Master's degree in International Relations from American University in Washington, DC. He has also studied mathematics at a number of universities including Harvard. Abandoning both politics and mathematics, he has instead devoted himself to literature. Journey to Virginland is his debut novel. Melikian lives in Los Angeles.

To read more about the author, please click here.

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