Raffi Wartanian

Raffi Joe Wartanian received a BA in History from the Johns Hopkins University, and a Masters of Fine Arts and Master of International Affairs from Columbia University where he taught in the Undergraduate Writing Program. Raffi has previously led writing workshops at Rikers Island jail, the Manhattan VA, and Letters for Peace, a program he founded that organized hybrid writing-peacebuilding workshops to foster constructive dialogue in conflict zones. Since joining UCLA Writing Programs in 2021, Raffi has taught classes in rhetoric, composition, creative non-fiction, and engaged across campus with the UCLA Library, Fowler Museum, the Teaching and Learning Center, and the School of Theater, Film, and Television. Teaching and writing interests include language, identity, memory, history, global affairs, hybrid writing forms, and cultivating writing skills that are transferable across disciplines.

In 2023, Raffi was appointed the Inaugural Poet Laureate in the City of Glendale, California, and he serves on the Advisory Board of the International Armenian Literary Alliance. A recipient of grants and fellowships from The Fulbright Program, Eurasia Partnership Foundation, and Humanity in Action, his essays have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, University of Texas Press, Outside Magazine, Miami Herald, The Baltimore Sun, and elsewhere; his poetry has been published with No Dear Magazine, The Poetry Lighthouse, The Los Angeles Press, LAdige, Armenian Poetry Project, and beyond. As a musician, Raffi has released two albums of original compositions: Pushkin Street and Critical Distance. In his free time, he loves to explore music, nature, storytelling, and service.