Areg

Sona Van (właściwie: Ter-Howhannisjan) to znana ormiańska poetka i podróżniczka. Urodziła się w Erywaniu, Armienii. Jej dziadek, szanowany ormiański duchowny z wschodnioanatolijskiego miasta Wan (stąd - pseudonim literacki poetki) w straszliwym 1915 roku przebywał w Istambule wraz z dużą częścią swej rodziny. Wszyscy oni byli naocznymi świadkami czy wręcz ofiarami okrucieństw młodotureckich bojówek.

Starting in early 1915, the Ottoman Turks began deporting and killing hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the first major genocide of the 20th century. By the end of the First World War, the number of Armenians in what would become Turkey had been reduced by 90 percent - more than 1,000,000 people. A century later, the Armenian genocide remains controversial but relatively unknown, overshadowed by later slaughters and the chasm separating Turkish and Armenian versions of events.

This collection of Sona Van’s poems is a tribute to the victims of genocide and war. With extraordinary feminine sensitivity, the poet looks at the world in all its striking contrasts, constantly probing the depths of her consciousness with new modes of expression. The collection consists of ephemeral poems characterized by dramatic encounters with nothingness in which an uncanny ability to capture extreme situations prevails. Sona Van’s poetry represents the truest testimony of historical experience and the reality in which it still lives.