In A Libretto for the Desert, Sona Van’s subject is the Armenian genocide, also known as the Great Catastrophe. Van’s parents and grandparents were driven into exile due to this horrific event. Her poems reflect a personal connection to this history as well as the universality of loss, persecution, and intolerance.
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"I listened to several poems in this audiobook. Beautiful poetry—sad, tough, evocative, mysterious. The message about the horrific Armenian genocide is conveyed in a uniquely expressive manner. The power of the poems is enhanced by the narrator, Beata Pozniak. She is the perfect messenger for the poet’s words. Her affecting and distinctive reading of these poems superbly conveys their message, nuances, feelings. "Libretto for the Desert" is a significant work of art."
— Eva Zelig (5 out of 5 stars)
“This is music to be felt like the dry wind of the desert, felt on the skin as if a bullet had just skimmed by, barely missing the beating heart.”
— Diversions LA magazine (Los Angeles)“Beata Pozniak’s accented, dramatic narration conjures a faraway desert land. Sona Van’s abstract meditation on the Armenian genocide of 1915-1917 is dedicated to the victims of all wars and atrocities. Plumbing the depths of pain, Pozniak’s narration is intense, breathy, and emotional, and is augmented by background sounds of desert winds and distant, echoing Middle Eastern music. Pozniak’s artful pauses, varied tempo, and voice full of emotion convey the weight of the horrific events of the genocide and their effects on individuals. The work employs the Armenian genocide as its focus but also touches upon other wars and suffering, including the more recent events in Iraq.”
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Sona Van (Sona Ter-Hovhannisyan) is a poet and essayist who was born in Yerevan, Armenia. Her books of poetry have been translated into more than seventeen languages. She is the recipient of many awards including the gold medal from Armenia’s Ministry of Culture, a Homer-the European Medal of Poetry and Art, the Ianicus Literary Prize and in 2019 she was the recipient of the 1573 International Poetry Prize in China. In the US, she received many recognitions including the Woman In Literature Award from the California Senate.
Beata Pozniak - wyrózniona przez Washington Post za nagranie najlepszego audiobooka roku w USA, dzieki czemu zostala nie tylko pierwsza Polka, ale pierwsza nieanglojezyczna aktorka, które zatrudnilo n ajwieksze anglojezyczne wydawnictwo literackie na swiecie – Penguin Random House. Za „Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead” Olgi Tokarczuk i “The Light in Hidden Places” zdobyla prestizowe nagrody Earphones Awards. Otrzymala 5 nominacji do Voice Arts Awards, m.in. za „Libretto for the Desert”. W Polsce zadebiutowala w “Zycie Kamila Kuranta”, a w USA u Olivera Stone’a w wielooskarowym filmie “JFK” grajac zone Gary’ego Oldmana. Pamietana jest z teatru tv grajac Ofelie w “Hamlecie we wsi Glucha Dolna” (Zlota Setka Teatru TV) czy z seriali: “Kroniki Mlodego Indiana Jones”, “Zlotopolscy”, “Melrose Place”, czy tez “Babylon 5” gdzie zagrala Kobiete Prezydenta swiata. W USA zaproponowala wprowadzenie ustawy obchodzenia Dnia Kobiet za co zostala wyrózniona przez Burmistrza Los Angeles i w Kongresie USA.