Vardan Hakobyan was born in 1948 in Artsakh, in a family of teachers. He began writing when he was 11, but he was also good at art. He graduated from Baku’s Pedagogical Institute in 1969 and began to work in Stepanakert in the cultural section of a newspaper, first as a literary worker, then as the head of the section and finally as a co-editor. He has been a member of Artsakh Writers Union (ArWU) since 1983 as the president of the Union, is also the rector of the University. He is the author of numerous poetical, literary and cultural collections of books, of a number of plays, of Artsakh’s National Anthem. His work has been translated in a number of languages.