Interview 01

Luminiţa Cioabă tells about her life as a Romani girl and her choice to become an author. She remembers her first discouragement and demotivation to go to school until she discovered the world of literature and that her student talent was appreciated by her teacher. On the other hand, she faced difficulties within her family as she was expected to obey all community norms. She also pays attention to the personalities and prominent figures from the Romanian literature circles who have supported her poetic activities and pleaded for her development as a poet before her own father.

Interview 02

In the second part of the interview (recorded with another device), Luminiţa Cioabă answers the question about her message to the people interested in or writing Romani literature and about her visions for the future:
Papusza (Bronisława Wajs) and her inspiring lyric poetry should never be forgotten; thus Cioabă features Papusza‘s work in her cultural activities. She hopes that Romani literature will develop further, and more authors will write in Romani, as she does it, and therefore help to prevent the loss of this language, which is the treasure of the Romani people.

The interview was conducted in Sibiu, where the International Festival of Romani Poetry was organized 11–14 October 2017 by the »Fundația Social-Culturală a Romilor ›Ion Cioabă‹« (with its president Luminiţa Cioabă).