Since 1980 he has taught at Colgate University where he is the Donald M and Constance H Rebar Professor of the Humanities in the department of English and Director of Creative Writing.

He taught for two years at the Dwight-Englewood School where he met his lifetime friend, the poet Bruce Smith with whom he founded the poetry journal Graham House Review (1979–96).

In 1976 Balakian began his doctoral studies in the American Civilization Program at Brown University where he wrote his dissertation on the poet Theodore Roethke under the direction of Hyatt H. Waggoner and David Hirsch.

"[8] Balakian's second book of poems Sad Days of Light (1983), dealt the history, trauma and memory of a global catastrophe-the Armenian Genocide-and its impact across generations.

"[9] In The Christian Science Monitor, Steven Ratiner wrote, "It is in its restrained but intimate tone, its faithfulness to the small human detail, that the poetry reaches its broadest context.

The British poet Carol Rumens in The Guardian wrote, "The power of the poems in Ziggurat is in the range of experiences and knowledge they respond to, the linguistic energies deployed and the skill with which the narrative is layered, so that it resonates not only as historical commentary, but with pertinence to the present moment.

"[11] In an interview with the New York Times after winning the Pulitzer Prize in April, 2016, Balakian said, "poetry in particular has a great capacity to absorb history, and to make historical memory a dynamic contemporary force.

Joyce Carol Oates in The New Yorker called it "a richly imagined memoir, carefully documented, that asks painful questions of us all.

For decades, Balakian has worked to combat the Turkish government's denial and propaganda campaigns which is aimed at suppressing the history of the Armenian Genocide and pressuring the US and other nations not to acknowledge it.

[25] In 2005, Balakian and Elie Wiesel had a similar meeting with Associated Press foreign desk editor Larry Heinzerling, also resulting in a policy change.

[26] About President Biden's statement of acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2021, Balakian wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post "No American president until Biden has had the courage to use the word "genocide" for fear of angering Turkey's leaders and damaging relations with a powerful ally, even one with an abominable human rights record.

Balakian's political and cultural commentary and op-eds have appeared in The Washington Post,[27] The Guardian,[34] Salon,[35] LA Times,[36] Boston Globe,[37] and The Daily Beast,[38] and his essays about art and literature have appeared in Art In America, Poetry,[39] New York Times Magazine,[40] Tikkun,[41] Literary Hub,[42] The Chronicle of Higher Education,[43] and many scholarly journals.