“On no street in Goris was the language as bad as on the Old Road. It was not a language, but melancholy, sadness, and anger. That’s how the partridge sang in the Gatrin Valley, and the cold spring babbled in the darkness.” The entire Bakunts day in the libraries of Armenia was filled with “such a beautiful and sonorous language of Kyores.” It was like an old carpet with patterns and rose flowers, similar to the carpet that Mina had sewn as a child. The reading marathon was supposed to gather everyone around the Bakuntsian readings.

Residents of Yerevan and the regions joined the marathon. The online platform united all regional libraries, public libraries, writers, teachers, students, schoolchildren, and other participants. All participants read Aksel Bakunts’ “Kyores” for 5 minutes, along with the stories: “Mtnadzor” (The Dark Valley), “Mirhav”, “Alpine Violet”, “Humble Girl”, “Sowing Black Bulls”, “Apricot Money”, “The Evil of Mtnadzor”, and “Lar Margar”. The “Reading Marathon” became the largest event organized by the National Library of Armenia within the framework of National Library Week. The Advisor to the Director of the National Library, Nerses Hayrapetyan, started the Marathon with an introductory speech.

The Director of the National Library, Anna Chulyan, greeted all the participants and joined the reading of “Kyores” by Aksel Bakunts. 

Then the reading of “Kyores” was continued by the Deputy Director of the Library for Research, Haikanush Ghazaryan, the library staff, and then the libraries of Yerevan and the regions, and individuals joined in. The reading marathon ended in Yerevan, starting from Kyores-Goris and moving from Yerevan to the regions and from the regions back to Yerevan. The employees of the National Library read, in the words of Bakunts, a story about “our city,” Yerevan, “Provincial Sunset.” About 90 readers from Yerevan and all regions of Armenia took part in the reading marathon. dedicated to the 125th anniversary of Axel Bakunts and lasting more than 7 hours.

The Bakunts House Museum in Goris joined us, and a reading was organized from a tribune overlooking the panorama of Goris. And although “Kyores” ends with the words “Mina cried, and the tongue of Kyores cried with her…”, on Friday, the soft, piercing language of Kyores and Bakunts felt joy.