Newmag and the U.S. Embassy in Armenia Announce New Literary Initiative at Summerfest 2026: The "Pulitzer" Series Launched (Photos)

The new series was officially announced at Summerfest 2026. Artak Aleksanyan, the CEO of Newmag publishing house, stated that Newmag will handle the entire editorial and publishing process, ensuring high-quality Armenian translations and editions:

"We have always believed that translation is cultural infrastructure. Through the 'Pulitzer' series, we are creating a long-term library of landmark works that will enrich Armenian intellectual life and expand readers' horizons."

Thanks to the "Pulitzer" series, the most influential and discussed works of contemporary American literature will become accessible in Armenia, books that have shaped public agendas, set new literary standards, and brought to light the complex layers of society, history, and human destiny.

The U.S. Embassy will support the initiative through public relations and cultural programming, including public discussions, reader roundtables, and project coverage through media outlets and embassy platforms. Anastasia Kolivas, U.S. Embassy Spokesperson, announced the initiative at the festival:

"What a joy it is to be here at Newmag Summer Fest - surrounded by readers, thinkers, and people who believe, as we do, that books have the power to change the world. 

It is about connection - between cultures, between ideas, between people who may live thousands of miles apart but who share the same curiosity about the world and our place in it.

The United States is proud to support this initiative. Our partnership with Newmag is non-financial - it is built on shared values: a belief in the power of literature, in the importance of access to ideas, and in the enduring friendship between the American and Armenian peoples."

Donna Tartt's novel “The Goldfinch” has already been translated and is ready for publication. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The novel is a sweeping and deeply human story about loss, beauty, survival, and the objects we hold onto when everything else falls away.

The protagonist of the story is a boy whose life is shattered, with the events unfolding around a single painting. The second book is Elizabeth Kolbert's “The Sixth Extinction”. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-fiction, this book is one of the most important works of our time.