Donika Emille is the pen name of poet and artist Donika Todorova.
She lives and works in New York. With close to 150 completed poems, Donika’s main focus is expressing her own spirituality, as applied to modern day urban life. The conversation is about saving one’s soul and following one’s heart.
The essence of her work is strongly linked to freedom of expression and the meaning of living — from critical and political themes, to mythology and motherhood and the perpetual delicate movements of the human heart. Some of her work comes as a result of an automatic writing process with very little editing. Other poetry is thought through and worked upon in a more extended manner. No poem that came to her mind is discarded. Everything is written down and saved. Creative spontaneity and ultimate freedom of expressing one’s truth are paramount to her daily life, even if something that is true today might no longer be true tomorrow.
The language used is mostly simple and understandable and the length of the poems isn’t extensive. Donika believes that poetry should be accessible to all people willing to spend a short moment to dive into a world of sound, symbol, pure emotion and striking imagery. She also likes wit, jokes, laughter and enjoying life just as it is, with all its colors. For that reason, she loves to paint and decorate a home in unique, splashy ways. Painting is a secondary creative activity for her, but one that brings joy and a more intuitive connection with the universe.
Donika will always maintain an intimate marriage with language and the artistic expression. This is at the essence of her being. And she believes poetry represents messages that come from a higher dimension, while the poet is merely here to channel them through.
Donika has an associate’s degree in Contemporary Literature from The New Sorbonne University (all courses taken in French), and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the American University in Bulgaria. She has been writing poetry in English and Bulgarian since the age of 12. She is also the owner of the website Deya, focused on hand-made mala and prayer beads from natural stones.
Feel free to reach out at contact@donikaemille.com
A special thank you to artist Mark Millene for providing the encouragement and inspiration that led to the birth of this website.
donika emille 