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Dawn Anahid MacKeen Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Dawn Anahid MacKeen
Photo: Jennifer Roper

Dawn Anahid MacKeen

Dawn Anahid MacKeen Biography

Dawn Anahid MacKeen is an award winning investigative journalist who spent nearly a decade on her grandfather's story. Previously she was a staff writer at Salon, Newsday, and Smart Money. Her work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Elle, the Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere. She lives in Southern California.



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Interview

Dawn Anahid MacKeen shares how the Armenian genocide shaped her family and why it matters that Turkey still denies this dark history - a topic she explores in The Hundred-Year Walk, a biography of her grandfather's courage in the face of terrible odds.

Why did you feel compelled to write this book?

Ever since I can remember, my mother has been telling me about what happened to her father. Still, the story was relayed in fragments, and I couldn't grasp how extraordinary it was until I could finally read it for myself as an adult. (This was thanks to a relative who translated his account, which was published in the sixties by a small press, from Armenian into English.) After reading it, I couldn't believe that he survived, and the ripple effect that my entire family was alive. My grandfather Stepan believed he lived in order to tell the world what happened, and shared his ordeal with my mother throughout her childhood. She then passed it onto me. This is our family's heirloom. Other people inherit fine china. I inherited this story, along with it the responsibility of retelling it.

Would you have survived this?

I ask myself this all the time. At each turn, what would I have done when faced with the same near-impossible odds? Would I have made the same decisions as my grandfather? Or would I have given up? My grandfather did everything to reunite with his family again, transforming himself constantly, and pushing his own physical and emotional limits. He ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Dawn Anahid MacKeen at BookBrowse
The Hundred-Year Walk jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Dawn Anahid MacKeen but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Chris Bohjalian

    Chris Bohjalian

    Chris Bohjalian is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-three books, including Hour of the Witch, The Red Lotus, Midwives, and The Flight Attendant, was the basis for the hit HBO Max television series starring ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Hundred-Year Walk

    Try:
    The Sandcastle Girls
    by Chris Bohjalian

  • Yangzom Brauen

    Yangzom Brauen

    Born to a Swiss father and Tibetan mother, Yangzom Brauen is an actress, model, and political activist. She lives in both Los Angeles and Berlin and has appeared in a number of German and American films. She is also very ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Hundred-Year Walk

    Try:
    Across Many Mountains
    by Yangzom Brauen

We recommend 7 similar authors

View all 7 Read-Alikes

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