Newmag presents the memoir “Letters from Paradise, Where No One Is” by Hermine Avagyan and Ulysse Manes (trailer)

One day in Artsakh, Hermine Avagyan receives a letter from a young French man, Ulysse Manes, who is interested in how people live after the war, what they feel, how someone living in that reality creates.

That first letter becomes the beginning of a dialogue, which soon grows beyond a simple exchange of questions and answers. Hermine writes her letters in Artsakh, while Ulysse reads them in Paris. On one side is the curious gaze of a stranger; on the other, the inner world of someone living with loss.

The dialogue between Hermine Avagyan and Ulysse Manes takes shape as a literary correspondence: 

“Letters from Paradise, Where No One Is.” In her letters, Hermine revives her world, guiding the reader through the hidden paths of Artsakh. The smells and colors of childhood intertwine with the fog of war. It is not only memory, but also an attempt to preserve a reality that no longer exists.

For French musician, journalist, and Doctor of Philosophy Ulysse Manes, this correspondence becomes a path into a world she had previously only known from a distance. Her questions and reflections form a dialogue in which cultures do not collide, but complement one another.

The book is also a documentary of intimacy born against the backdrop of war and loss, letters written with luminous longing, conversations where words often fall short of expressing the pain of leaving one’s homeland. The book is published in both Armenian and French, preserving the living spirit of the correspondence. The Armenian translation is by Lilit Bleyan.

The presentation will take place on March 28 at 15:00, at the Pushkin Business Club (Pushkin 25). The event will be attended by the authors, as well as Adrien Briand, a journalist from the French newspaper Le Figaro. The evening will conclude with a musical performance featuring Ulysse Manes and Lilit Bleyan.

The memoir “Letters from Paradise, Where No One Is” is not only a story about war, but also about what remains after it, memory, longing, and the need to speak. Letters that continue to live beyond time and space.

A book born in the days of war and the loss of Artsakh, when a young Frenchman anxiously awaited a reply to his letter. Letters that became a bridge, from Artsakh to Paris, the story of one book.