ULTRAVIOLET. S01E02 / "My Friend the Poet Ashot" (Video)

Through personal memoirs, anecdotes, and testimonies from close friends, Violet revives the image of the writer. From rhymed quatrains to freeform poetics, discover the secrets of Khachatryan’s creative journey.

"Today, I remembered my writer friend Ashot Khachatryan, who has been living in Moscow for many years. We would meet every few years, though there was a time when we saw each other every day. In those dark, cold years, we were almost inseparable, living together within a small literary and friendly community. A literary bohemian, emerging to overcome the harshness of cold and hunger, we called it ‘economics.’

Ashot was a close friend. We talked about everything, not just for hours, but for days, months, and years. I was the one who introduced him to his girlfriend, who later became his wife, and she joined our bohemian group. At first, she would fall asleep during our long conversations over vodka, but then she started drinking with us, and eventually, she passed away. Later, I married Vahan Ishkhanyan, and he became part of our group. When Ashot moved to Moscow, Vahan and I often found ourselves reminiscing and missing him. Vahan's posthumously published novel “The Bitter Sea” contains those very memories and longings."

Ashot Khachatryan published one book of poetry and edited an issue of the youth collection of the “Literary Newspaper”, which included his story “Time and Chance”. He was also known as a writer and translator with a unique literary flair, playing a significant role in the literary life of the dark, cold years of the 90s.