Synkroniciti is excited to welcome back Armenian American poet and visual artist Yolanda Movsessian. Yolanda opens the “Broken” issue with two visual art pieces and a poem. This triptych explores the possibility of healing and renewal which grows out of brokenness. The first part, “amidst all things broken” is an analog collage which has been manipulated digitally and is accompanied by a word cloud and short poem. We see one side of a woman’s face and a clump of words beside her. These words symbolize things which are often broken. Yolanda reminds us, in a variation on Rumi, “amidst all things broken/ lingers hope luminous and bright.” The next part is “Song of the Sirens,” one of the finalists in our poetry contest. This is a haunting poem about remembering how to survive after being rejected by a spouse: “amidst all the expired spices/ I have found my name”. Surreal, sensuous language transmutes the everyday into a landscape of sirens, dragons and broken myths as Yolanda captures a moment of new growth and power. The final work is “Persephone Dreams of Spring,” an ink drawing which acknowledges the cyclical nature of brokenness and renewal. What seemed dead and buried in winter begins to germinate. From the knots and tangles and shadows, Persephone grows back into fullness and wildness.
Experience Yolanda’s symbolist art and poetry in our September 1st issue, “Broken,” available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Yolanda Movsessian is an Armenian born in Iran who currently lives in Houston, TX. She spends her free time writing, drawing, playing with her camera and plotting ways to steal her daughter’s beautiful velveteen cat, Echo.
Her short stories have received recognition as the winner of Mississippi Review’s 2020 prize for best fiction, finalist for Kallisto Gaia Press’ Chester B Himes Memorial Short Fiction Prize, and top 3 in the first round of NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge 2021.
Yolanda’s writing, art, and photography have been featured in various publications such as Mississippi Review, Synkroniciti, Defunkt, and Equinox Magazines. Collaborating with various artists is one of Yolanda’s passions. Her last two video poem collaborations with filmmaker Mitchell Collins have won Judges’ first prize at the ReelPoetry Festival 2022, the Audience Award at ReelPoetry Festival 2023 and acceptance into Aurora Picture Show’s Extremely Shorts Festival 2023.
Yolanda loves to promote creativity and poetry in her community. She is on the board of Mutabilis Press, a nonprofit focusing on promoting and publishing poets as well as one of the 2023 hosts of the First Friday Poetry Reading series in Houston.