Published: 25 March 2024
In mid-March, the University of Sunderland in London (UoSiL) was delighted to host a celebratory book launch event for undergraduate business and management student, Luminita Doncila – welcoming guests from the Moldovan community.
Many of us have a story to tell, but putting pen to paper and deciding to share your experience with the world in a book - when you are in your early twenties – demonstrates real courage.
For Luminita, her book Femeile puternice inving greutatile (“strong women overcome obstacles”) – a memoir about her past experience of family, friends and love in her native Moldova - was written, initially, as a form of emotional release, but she soon realised a desire to share the book’s ‘deep feeling’ and reaching of the ‘inner soul’ with a wider audience.
Event organiser, Mihaela Dariescu - Senior Personal Academic Tutor, opened the launch by explaining how Luminita had quietly mentioned to her that she had written a book. Intrigued, Mihaela asked to read a copy and was impressed -
“The book shows so much reflective insight, from such a young person, with incredible poetry to support the narrative.”.
The University was especially pleased to welcome members of the UK Moldovan community to the launch. This included Luminita’s former literature teacher, Alina Stavarachi, who encouraged her to publish the book. Alina commended Luminita by explaining how there is “…so much self-awareness and deepness in the writing - reading it is a form of therapy.”.
Fellow writer, and Moldovan diaspora UK community organiser, Iurie Cojocaru, read several passages from Luminita’s book and shared his thoughts - “As a fellow writer, I know that in this highly digital age, it takes real determination to write and publish a book. Luminita really engages the reader with her story of personal healing from trauma.”.
In a further link to the Moldovan community, the launch event was featured live on Radio Ai Noștri (“Our Radio”) – the first radio station for Moldovan diaspora worldwide.
Reflecting on her achievement and the successful launch event, Luminita said, “Some time ago I put a piece of myself out into the world, with book being a real dance of emotions. Today is an important moment for me, and I am proud to host my launch event at the University of Sunderland in London. I’m grateful to all the university staff who made this launch happen.”