Ileana Dorina Nicorici
Discover how author Ileana Nicorici rediscovered her passion for poetry, overcame creative self-doubt and published The Others, a deeply personal collection exploring love, human connection and the relationships that shape who we become.
How do the people we encounter throughout our lives shape who we become? How do love, relationships and personal experiences influence our understanding of ourselves?
These are some of the questions explored in The Others, a poetry collection by London-based author Ileana Nicorici.
In a recent episode of the PublishU Podcast, host Matt Bird sat down with Ileana to discuss her journey from a young poetry enthusiast to a published author. Their conversation explored creativity, professional challenges, overcoming self-doubt and the transformative power of writing.
For Ileana, poetry is more than a form of artistic expression. It is a way of understanding the relationships and experiences that shape our inner worlds.
Ileana's love for poetry began during her childhood in Romania.
An avid reader, she recalls spending a summer holiday at her grandmother's house when she discovered a volume of poetry that captured her imagination.
Although she cannot remember the poet's name, the experience left a lasting impression. The emotional depth and beauty of the writing inspired her to attempt poetry herself.
What began as curiosity gradually developed into a creative practice.
She would challenge herself to consider how an ordinary day might be expressed through a poem, translating everyday observations and feelings into words.
However, like many young writers, Ileana initially kept her work private.
She worried that others might find her interest unusual or struggle to understand her writing. Poetry remained a personal pursuit rather than something she felt comfortable sharing.
As adulthood approached, professional responsibilities gradually took priority, and her creative writing stopped for more than a decade.
Ileana's journey back to poetry began during a challenging period in her professional life.
Having built a demanding career in consulting, she experienced a period of significant work-related pressure that required her to take an extended break.
Following much-needed rest and recovery, she found herself with something unfamiliar: time to reconnect with her creative interests.
During a trip through Spain approximately seven years ago, she was sitting on a terrace in Barcelona when she remembered a writing exercise from her childhood.
She asked herself a simple question: If today were a poem, what would it say?
Taking out her phone, she began writing a few lines.
Those initial words marked the beginning of her return to poetry.
Over time, occasional lines became more developed pieces, allowing Ileana to rediscover a creative outlet that had been absent from her life for years.
Her experience demonstrates how reconnecting with creativity can provide an opportunity for reflection, particularly during periods of personal or professional change.
At the heart of The Others is an exploration of human relationships and their lasting influence on our identities.
Ileana describes the collection as a journey through time and the different emotional spaces within ourselves.
Each relationship, whether romantic, personal or otherwise, can change how we understand love, connection and our expectations of others.
The poems explore how these encounters contribute to our internal architecture, gradually shaping the people we become.
While some poems draw inspiration from real experiences, others incorporate fictional elements and creative interpretation.
This blending of reality and imagination allows readers to connect with the poetry through their own experiences.
Rather than presenting one fixed interpretation of love or relationships, The Others invites readers to reflect on their individual emotional journeys.
It is this openness that makes poetry such a powerful medium for exploring universal human experiences.
Despite her passion for writing, Ileana faced a significant challenge when considering publication: the fear of what other people might think.
Poetry can feel particularly vulnerable because it often expresses deeply personal thoughts and emotions.
Unlike other forms of writing, a poem may never feel completely finished.
A writer can continually adjust individual words, rearrange lines or change the structure of a stanza.
For Ileana, publishing meant accepting that her work could be interpreted differently from how she originally intended.
Her participation in PublishU's writing and publishing programme helped her move beyond this uncertainty.
The structured process provided the momentum and accountability needed to transform her collection into a completed book.
Today, seeing The Others available to readers worldwide still feels somewhat surreal.
What once seemed like an overwhelming obstacle became an achievable milestone in her creative journey.
For anyone interested in learning how to write poetry, Ileana offers a simple exercise that makes the creative process more approachable.
She recommends finding a quiet space, such as a coffee shop, library, terrace or park, where you can observe your surroundings.
Begin by writing down descriptive words associated with the environment.
Consider the colours, smells, sounds and textures around you.
Next, identify nouns and verbs that capture what is happening in the space.
Finally, combine these observations into a few sentences or lines of poetry.
The result does not need to be long or polished. Even four lines can become the foundation of a meaningful poem.
This sensory writing exercise encourages aspiring poets to move beyond overthinking and begin creating through observation.
It also establishes a personal connection between the poem and the moment in which it was written.
Ileana Nicorici's journey illustrates that creativity does not have to follow a conventional timeline.
A passion discovered during childhood can be rediscovered years later, even after a lengthy absence.
Her story also highlights the importance of overcoming perfectionism and accepting that creative work can be meaningful without being universally understood.
Through The Others, Ileana invites readers to explore love, relationships, identity and the lasting influence of human connection.
Her journey from private poetry notebooks to international publication offers encouragement to aspiring writers who may be hesitant to share their work.
Listen to the full PublishU Podcast interview with Matt Bird and Ileana Nicorici to discover more about the inspiration behind The Others, her creative process and her experience of becoming a published author.
If you have a story, collection of poems or book idea waiting to be shared, visit PublishU to learn more about turning your writing into a published book.
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