A conversation with Arlene Avakian and Ayşe Gül Altınay, moderated by Deanna Cachoian-Schanz. At 14, Arlene Avakian was asked by her grandmother, a survivor of 1915, to tell her story to the world. At 53, she published Lion Woman’s Legacy (1992), the first memoir by an Armenian-American woman and the first to recount an Armenian lesbian coming-out story. Years later, anthropologist and ecofeminist activist Ayşe Gül Altınay invited Avakian to Istanbul for a conference in Hrant Dink’s memory, where Avakian also met Fethiye Çetin, author of My Grandmother. Together, the three have recently completed Mirroring Lives: Conversations on Feminism, Racism and Genocide. The discussion explores the role of autobiographical writing in understanding our past and present, as well as feminist solidarity across nationalism and patriarchy. Language: English.