Taleen Voskuni puts Armenian diasporic life at the heart of modern romance

2026-02-12 - 20:16

“I’ve been writing my whole life, but I didn’t really try to write a novel until 2016,” says Taleen Voskuni, the San Francisco-based author behind modern sensations like Sorry, Bro and Lavash at First Sight and the newly released Our Ex’s Wedding. Each of her novels is rooted in the Armenian diaspora experience — a reality she knows intimately. Voskuni attended KZV Armenian School and has long been active in the local Armenian community. Her family’s roots trace back to historic Cilicia: Adana, Sis and Marash. Survivors of the Armenian Genocide, her relatives resettled in Damascus, Syria, then Beirut, Lebanon, before eventually fleeing the Lebanese Civil War and settling in San Francisco. That intergenerational story of survival, migration and reinvention quietly shapes her fiction. Yet, the path to publication was anything but immediate. It was a deliberate practice, requiring persistence. “I had to unlearn a lot of things I thought I knew, and relearn,” she tells the Weekly. “I took classes, wrote books, got editors and critique partners. I wrote two other books that haven’t gone anywhere yet, but they are very valuable. They were practice.” When she began writing Sorry, Bro, something shifted. “I had so much to say. I love that I have tapped into the Armenian diaspora experience,” she expresses. “I’m grateful to my publisher, Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House.” Click to view slideshow. After completing the manuscript, Voskuni applied to a mentorship program and won, earning the opportunity to work with author Jesse Q. Sutanto. “She helped me revise it, and I got five agents interested. I chose Kaitlyn Detweiler because of her edits, which were so astute,” Voskuni recalls. Her inspiration often comes from unexpected places. “The shower and staring out the window of public transit are great ways for me to get my inspiration for the books,” she explains. It was during one such commute that the idea for Sorry, Bro crystallized: “One day, I was taking public transit to work, and I thought about two women talking: one saying, ‘Why are we always talking about the Armenian Genocide?’ and another woman listening, non-judgmental, curiously correcting her, and I thought that was an interesting dynamic. That’s where Nareh and Erebuni came about with Sorry, Bro. I had a lot to say about the Armenian diaspora experience, and it flowed.” Voskuni’s novels intentionally weave Armenian history, culture and traditions into contemporary romance, centering characters who seek connection, love and healing — all while navigating inherited memory. “Two things always stick out for me. I love it when non-Armenians learn about Armenian culture through my books. Another aspect is when Armenians reach out to me and feel seen. It feeds my soul,” she says. Voskuni’s third novel, Our Ex’s Wedding, builds on familiar characters while expanding her romantic universe. “I’ve been a maid of honor three times, so I know a lot about weddings,” she states. “My cousin is a scientist, but also does wedding events, and one of my close friends owns a natural Armenian vineyard, so I utilized my resources.” The book revisits Raffi, a character introduced in her debut book: “The main character, Raffi, from Sorry, Bro, has transformed and awakened.” Describing the tone of her newest novel, Voskuni adds: “Our Ex’s Wedding is the most romantic novel I’ve written. It has nods to early 2000s rom-coms. It’s a fun book, but it also has some serious storylines about love, grief and finding yourself.” For Voskuni, romance is not simply escapism; it is a vehicle. Through meet-cutes and weddings, vineyard scenes and public-transit musings, she places Armenian diasporic life squarely within contemporary popular culture. In doing so, she offers something many readers did not grow up seeing in bookstores: Armenians at the center of their own love stories. While she does not yet have a new book idea finalized, the author is exploring new avenues. “I have a film agent now and am open to having the books made into movies,” she says. Perhaps a screen adaptation may be on the horizon. For now, however, Our Ex’s Wedding marks another step in Voskuni’s project of writing Armenians — fully, joyfully and unapologetically — into the modern romance canon. Our Ex’s Wedding is now available wherever books are sold. All photos are courtesy of Taleen Voskuni unless otherwise noted.