Issue No. 12 | Drowned in the Depths

In this issue, we interviewed Leila Boukarim, an author, and Sareen Hairabedian, a director and producer.

Leila is the author of the children’s book Lost Words: An Armenian Story of Survival and Hope. She is also behind the project A Million Kites, which collects poems and messages of children from Gaza.

Sareen’s recent documentary film, My Sweet Land, follows an 11-year-old boy named Vrej living in Martakert, Artsakh. In the trailer for the film, Vrej says, “We live in a country where war is expected to start at any moment. I don’t want my children to witness war. I may experience it, but I don’t want that for my children.”

Given the mass dehumanization of children and the unilateral removal of their innocence, which we see in many forms and particularly with respect to the children of Gaza, we decided to pair Leila and Sareen’s interviews for this issue. Our intention is not only to highlight these brilliant women and their work, but to grow to a point where we can discuss children, as children, until these conversations are no longer the exception to the rule. That all children regardless of where they were born, don’t have to be applauded for their resilience but rather can simply be left alone, to play, to dream, to dance, to laugh, and to just be.