Adriana Oniță

What was your favorite book as a child?

As a child, I loved Scufiţa Roşie, or Little Red Riding Hood. I would ask my mom to read/tell the story 100 times, and each time, I would question why the details were slightly altered. As an adult, I still read children’s books all the time. Among my favourites are Ceci est un poème qui guérit les poissons (Jean-Pierre Siméon and Olivier Tallec), Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox (Danielle Daniel), and Life Doesn’t Frighten Me (Maya Angelou and Jean-Michel Basquiat). In 2022, I visited the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and got inspired to create my own — or collaborate with my son Rafael to write and illustrate multilingual books for kids!

What was the original reason or motivation why you started writing creatively?

Perhaps writing is a natural impulse for those who love listening to stories or devouring books as if they were biscuiți. Mama, Mamaie (my grandma), and my aunties in Romania are captivating storytellers, so I grew up with that instinct cultivated by them. Also, I had an unforgettable elementary teacher in Edmonton, Canada, Mrs. Becker, who encouraged me to keep writing. Recently I found one of her notes while going through my parents’ basement, in which she said, “What an excellent writer you are! I love all the description, detail, and suspense — great techniques! Keep up the awesome writing.” I collaged her message into my current notebook.

What was the most adventurous or thrilling thing you ever did/experienced?

In 2014, my partner and I decided to move to Bologna, Italy — a city neither of us had ever been to. Every day was a thrill. Living together for the first time, mastering Italian, getting a job, taking poetry workshops, making new friends. Era solo l'inizio di una grande avventura insieme. It set the stage for a spontaneous and adventurous life together.

Do you listen to music while reading or writing?

I prefer silence while reading and writing. When I listen to music, I like to devote my whole attention to one album at a time.