What is "varand"

Soukias Hacob Koorkchian (; , born March 10, 1954 in Tehran),better known by his pen name Varand is an Iranian poet, playwright, lyricist, author, translator and painter of Armenian descent. He has published 27 collections of poetry since 1972.

Varand was honoured as Professor of Armenian Literature by the Grigor Lusavoritch University of Etchmiadzin, Armenia in 2001. He translates both Persian classics as well as modern poetry into the Armenian language.

Varand was the chairman of the Armenian Writers Society of Iran founded in 1961 for over ten years, while recently elected chairman of the board for the organization. He also is the editor in charge of the cultural department at Armenian daily newspaper of “Alik”, an honorary member of the Writers Union of Armenia in Yerevan and the professor of the Armenian literature at Azad University of Foreign Languages in Tehran.