Author and poet Peter Balakian will speak on "The Armenian Genocide and Inter-Generational Transmission of Trauma," Monday, Oct. 27, at 4:30 p.m. in Cornell University's Kaufmann Auditorium.

Balakian's presentation is part of the University Lectures series.

Balakian's most recent book, Black Dog of Fate (Basic Books, 1997), a family memoir and a retelling of the extermination of Armenians in Turkey, has been widely praised in numerous publications. Writing for the June 22, 1997, issue of The New York Times Book Review, critic Lore Dickstein called the work "a fascinating and affecting memoir, written in sorrow and anger, with great sensitivity. In calling for a formal acknowledgment of, and apology for, the Armenian [genocide] by the Turkish Government, Balakian wants both closure for the victims and the possibility of forgiveness for the perpetrators. But some crimes are beyond redemption and cannot -- should not -- be either forgotten or forgiven."

Balakian's poetry has appeared in book form, Father Fisheye (1979), Reply from Wilderness Island (1988) and Dyer's Thistle (1996), and has been published in The Nation, The Partisan Review and various anthologies.

When not writing, Balakian teaches American literature and creative writing at Colgate University, where he has been a faculty member for 17 years.

The University Lectures Series was established at Cornell by Goldwin Smith at the turn of the century to bring to campus the world's foremost scholars.

Sponsors of Balakian's visit to Cornell are the Peace Studies Program and the Society for the Humanities.