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 writing, and collaborated across campus with the UCLA Library, Fowler Museum, Center for the Advancement of Teaching, 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 writing has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of
Books, University of Texas Press, Outside Magazine, Miami Herald, The Baltimore Sun, The International Literary Quarterly, The Los Angeles Press, and elsewhere. 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.