Sona Van aka Sonia Kistorian, MD

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATOR/ARMENIAN-AMERICAN AUTHOR/POET


Sona Van, US based Armenian American poet/ essayist is a medical school graduate who emigrated to US in 1976. Later she received a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Santa Monica in USA. Despite her significant devotion to healthcare, nowadays, she is best known for her literary career.

She is the author of seven books of poetry that have been translated into twenty-eight different languages by renowned authors and literary icons of their respective nations. Sona Van is the recipient of several accolades in honor of her work. These include the Gold Medals awarded by the Ministry of Culture and the Armenian Ministry of Diaspora; the gold medal from the Golden Apricot Film Festival and the highest Presidential Honor, the “Movses Khorenatsi Medal” for her contribution in preserving the Armenian identity abroad. Her local Glendale Chamber of Commerce recognized her with its “Woman in Literature” distinction in 2013. In 2017, she was awarded Homer’s medal in poetry from the European Union and recipient of the international award of Clément Ianicius in Poland.
Sona Van is also the co-founder and editor of, Narcis literary magazine in Armenia, since 2006. Sona Van’s latest book, “Libretto for the Desert” has been acclaimed as one of the most significant modern works about Armenian Genocide and contemporary wars. The work inspired many musicians and was converted into Requiem by renowned Armenian composer Vache Sharafyan by Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra in October 2019. In same year Blackstone Publishing House published Libretto for the Desert audio book, read by Hollywood actress Beata Pozniak.


In September 2019, Sona Van’s book “Libretto for the Desert” was published in Chinese language and received 1573 International Prize for poetry in China. The latest book called “My Father would say” was published in Armenia in September 2019. Sona Van’s work beckons dialogue. As such, she is the most widely discussed contemporary Armenian author by literary critics in Armenia and abroad.