Արևոտ խոհարարը
2021
The Sunny Cook
The true story of Hovhannes, a young man with Down syndrome who is a waiter in Gyumri and warms up a whole neighborhood. What he can't do is beside the point.
Books
I don't invent my stories. I find them.
Or maybe they find me. So far they have been people: a waiter, a champion, a dancer, 37 remarkable women. The next ones may be a phenomenon, a place, a question. The real world keeps offering.
Series 01
Inclusive Stories
One very cold February afternoon in Gyumri, my friends and I ducked into Aregak Bakery & Cafe to warm up. I picked up one of their brochures and found the story of Hovhannes, a young man with Down syndrome. I was moved beyond words.
I was studying children's literature at the American University of Armenia at the time, and the final project was a children's book. I knew instantly whose story I wanted to tell. "The Sunny Cook" was written spontaneously and with lots of love, and it grew into a series about real people living full, joyful, wonderfully ordinary lives.
Չեմպիոնը
2023
The Champion
The true story of Greta Vardanyan, a parapowerlifter from Gyumri. Not a story about what she lost, but about winning, laughter, and everyday courage.
Ես խոսում եմ պարելով
2023
I Speak by Dancing
The true story of Hayk Hobosyan, a dancer from Yerevan with hearing loss who tells you everything, if you know how to look. A story about listening with your whole self.
Series 02
Armenian Wonderwomen
Some books answer an assignment. This one answered an absence. Co-authored with my dearest Elma Ayvazyan, "Armenian Wonderwomen" is our response to the missing women of our cultural and historical landscape: the scientists, writers, revolutionaries, and athletes whose lives were rarely written down. It took us four years to bring it into the world. Since its publication in 2024, the names of these 37 women have rung out in homes, schools, and kindergartens across Armenia and far beyond, from Argentina to New Zealand, from Belgium to Lebanon.
EASTERN ARMENIAN
2021
Armenian Wonderwomen
Illustrated portraits of historical and contemporary Armenian women whose lives were rarely written down - scientists, writers, athletes, and more.
WESTERN ARMENIAN
2022
Armenian Wonderwomen
The same lives in Western Armenian, so more children across the diaspora can read them in their mother tongue.
English
2023
Armenian Wonderwomen
An English edition that carries these stories beyond Armenia - for readers, teachers, and libraries everywhere.
The road continues and it's getting wider.
The next books are already taking shape, and not all of them are about people. The real world is full of stories: some walk on two legs, some fall as rain, some shine from very far away.
As an author, there is nothing more terrifying and at the same time more astonishing than your books leading lives of their own. I will probably never understand how or why a big piece of my heart is out there living without me. I am eternally grateful that it is.