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Contributor

Luminita Mihai Cioaba

Contributor

Luminita Mihai Cioaba

Luminita Mihai Cioaba, the daughter of a Bulibasha (the king of a Gypsy nation or tribe in a Turkish term used by the Romanian Roma), is both a poet and a prose writer. Her book, The Lost Country, is a volume of traditional stories more or less as told to her by her grandmother, as she has described it; but clearly they are elaborated and filled in with detail in a way more modern than traditional oral tales. The title story is a fable of why the Gypsies must always be on the road and why they have no home. Others represent Roma life in various ways-- violence, magicians, music, dance--but the lens is always that of a folk or mythic tale, and a woman's perspective. Many are told by internal narrators, usually old grannies to young women entering the world. Cioaba's collections of poetry include Earth's Root and The Rain Merchant. She has been honored with literary awards in Romania and Italy. The Lost Country was first published with Romanian and Romani versions in Sibiu, Romania, in 2002. Sorkin and Cirstea's English version is currently seeking a publisher.

Articles by Luminita Mihai Cioaba

The Birch Grove
By Luminita Mihai Cioaba
Then, without ever knowing why, trees raise their naked arms to the King of the Sky.
Translated from Romany by Adam J. Sorkin & Cristina Cirstea
Queen of the Night and Stone Flower
By Luminita Mihai Cioaba
The eyes of the Roma know exactly when the earth's heart begins to stir deep down at spring's root, reviving the shoots of grass and the buds of trees until the green sap bursts with love before the Sun's eyes.
Translated from Romany by Adam J. Sorkin & Cristina Cirstea
Meralda
By Luminita Mihai Cioaba
Just as the sun rises every day, giving its light to the earth, so day after day, year in, year out, we Roma travel on, without knowing where we are headed but following the road that lies before us.…
Translated from Romanian by Adam J. Sorkin & Cristina Cirstea
From “The Lost Country”
By Luminita Mihai Cioaba
Don't be afraid. I'll be here by your side, and I'll give you the gift I promised.
Translated from Romanian by Adam J. Sorkin & Cristina Cirstea