Writing projects

Damiana's writing projects blur the boundaries of disciplines—crossing genres and bringing together language and science with evocative imagery and a lyrical voice.

Poetry

Black holes + gypsy hearts are forever

Damiana's debut poetry collection, published by Honeybees for Peace Press, released in September 2023. To learn more, view her poetry page.

Poetry

Baby Universes

Damiana's second poetry collection, forthcoming Fall 2024, focuses on matrescence, motherhood, and our collective mother wound.

Memoir-Cookbook

Here, There, Everywhere: Four Generations of Bulgarian Cooking

Damiana's grandmother went on a tour of Bulgaria's countryside, collecting her family's recipes over the past four generations, tracing her family's journey to and from Bulgaria and beyond. It has been translated from Bulgarian and is currently under development.

Parenting guide

You're gonna be a bad mom

If you are going to be a parent, you'll go down this rabbit hole. And if you do, this book has all the data you need to convince yourself you've already "fucked up", so you can calm down now.

Children's picture book

The Dentist and the One Boy Band

Written in 2011, with concept illustrations by Nora Anderson, this fable of a children's story about following your calling wherever it may take you.

Novelette / Screenplay

The Man in Babylonia

Written in 2014, Damiana's first short story unravels the lives of two immigrant academics, spanning three continents. The story delves into what happens when dreams come undone and the personal metamorphosis that follows, weaving a tale that underscores the complexities of the human experience. There has interest in its conversion to a community play.

Novelette

Alibi

Currently under development, Alibi tells the story of a poet whose life is disrupted by a mysterious prank orchestrated by a terminal cancer patient. As their physical and digital worlds collide, the cancer patient turned hacker's motives surface, requiring both girls to come to terms with their traumatic pasts.

Non-fiction

Rx for Burnout

Damiana tells the story of what happens to "failed pre-meds". Sharing the narratives of several students, she traces what happens to those who once thought medicine was their calling. Patterns, gaps, and narrative insights culiminate in the Rx for Burnout, and what the people who take care of people really need to thrive.