YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 18, NOYAN TAPAN. Famous journalist, writer-publicist Artashes Kalantarian's 75th anniversary was marked on September 16. Though that jubilee was not marked officially, but a number of events were held on the his family's initiative. As the writer's wife, Julieta Kalantarian mentioned in the interveiw with the Noyan Tapan correspondent, one of lecture-halls of the Journalism Department of the Yerevan State University will be named after A.Kalantarian. And their son, Alexander Kalantarian, prepares for publication the "Selected Works" collection in which the writer's best stories and novelettes are involved. In J.Kalantarian's words, the Writers' Union of Armenia probably does not remember that Kalantarian's 75th anniversary is marked this year. "One must remind the Writers' Union to do something but we are not going to address to them with that issue. The people's love is important for us. 15 years passed after Artashes' death, but everybody remembers him, his works as well as the program "My House is Your House" which enjoyed great popularity," J.Kalantarian mentioned. A.Kalantarian worked in "Sovetakan Hayastan" (Soviet Armenia), "Yerekoyan Yerevan" (Evening Armenia) as well as in "Grakan Tert" (Literary Newspaper) as resposible secretary, then deputy editor. A.Kalantarian worked at the State Committee of Television and Radio of Armenia from 1970. Because of his feulletons, A.Kalantarian always was in the "center of attention" of officials. Writer Hrachia Hovhannisian mentions that "Artashes Kalantarian never strived for making friends with the upper strata to get any title or award. If he wanted to make friends with them, he would reach many things." A.Kalantarian is an author of more than a dozen of books. His "Marathon," "And Where You Were," "Why did You Tramble down the Flowers," "Confession," "Exam" books are of especially great interest. A number of stories and novelettes of the writer was published in the Russian and Bulgarian languages. A.Kalantarian's works were staged both in Armenian and foreign theaters. And director Nikolay Tsaturian staged Kalantarian's "Boomerang" poem at the Vardan Achemian Theater of Gyumri the last year.

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