Reema Sherin: Vulnerability Is What Allows My Writing to Connect [Author, Poet, 174k Followers, India]

Reema Sherin Interview

"My writing mostly explores absence, grief, love, and, more than anything, resilience."

Reema Sherin is a poet and author whose work gives language to grief, love, absence, and resilience through deeply personal yet universal storytelling. She believes vulnerability is not a weakness to hide, but the very force that allows readers to find themselves between her lines.

Q. For those discovering your work for the first time, how would you introduce yourself as an author?

I’m Reema, though many might know me better by the ‘partially anonymous’ writer I’ve been on the internet. I try to give language to emotions we often overlook or struggle to name. My writing mostly explores absence, grief, love, and, more than anything, resilience. Beyond that, I’m just another woman who overthought enough to those thoughts into words on paper. I believe that’s the very reason people find themselves between my lines.

Q. Your bio says, "Penning Hearts & Gathering Arts" What does this phrase mean to you?

To me, ‘Penning Hearts Gathering Art’ is a simple reflection of what I do. Most of my writing is the translation of an empathetic heart. The ‘Gathering Art’ comes from the visual side of my work. I spend a considerable amount of time searching for paintings and artworks that reflect the emotional landscape of each piece I write, so that the words and the art can exist in conversation with one another. After all, aren’t art and literature siblings who never lost touch along the way.

Q. What first inspired you to start writing, and when did you realize it was more than just a hobby?

I don’t remember a time when writing wasn’t a part of my life. The reader and the writer in me have always walked the same path, so I can’t point to one particular inspiration, it simply grew with me. As for when it became more than a hobby, I still don’t think of it that way. Even today, I prefer calling myself an aspiring writer, because calling myself simply “a writer” feels like arriving at a destination. I’d rather keep evolving than believe I’ve already arrived.

Q. How do emotions shape your storytelling and how do you balance vulnerability with creativity?

Don’t we all have a chapter we refuse to read out loud? I simply Mold those emotions into something more universal, yet deeply personal from different perspectives. To me, vulnerability is what allows my writing to connect emotionally with readers, it’s about finding strength in what we often perceive as weakness. The balance lies in how we choose to tell our stories.

Q. Every writer has a unique voice. How did you discover yours?

Unlike the stereotype, I wasn’t a particularly brave child, even as the youngest sibling in my family. I wasn’t the quiet kid either, but I always felt the need to pour my emotions into something when sharing them with someone felt like a distant dream. So, I began keeping a journal from a very young age, decorating its pages and filling them with poems. Perhaps that’s where I discovered my voice, wondering whether everyone felt this deeply, and if writing was simply a way of validating those emotions.

Q. How do you know when a story is complete and ready to be shared with the world?

I often reach a saturation point where I can no longer keep my poems to myself, that’s usually when I know it’s time to publish a book. Even when it’s just a single post, I hope the snippets I share give words to emotions that millions of people struggle to express. Isn’t that reason enough to let the world hear my voice? After all, aren’t we all living the same lives across different borders, only with different stories?”

Q. Which author or book has had the greatest influence on your writing journey, and why?

I love books by Khaled Housseini and Jojo Moyes. I admire the little sting their stories leave behind, subtle, yet deeply impactful. I still remember William Traynor from Me Before You nearly a decade after reading it. Perhaps it’s that ache that keeps me close to their characters.

Q. In today's fast-paced digital world, what do you think is the enduring power of books?

I’ve always been fascinated by how literature has evolved alongside our scroll culture. Reader communities continue to keep books alive, and many discover remarkable works today because of the internet. Classical poems become snippets, reels, or quotes that lead readers back to the original text. I think books have never stopped evolving, they’ve simply found new ways to transform the people who discover them.

Q. A fun one to end with, If one of your fictional characters could interview you, what's the first
question they would ask?

Since I write poetry and prose, the character most likely to interview me would be my younger self. I’m certain she’d ask whether we’re halfway to our dreams yet, or if we can finally afford to buy ourselves a coffee. I think that would be the most sentimental conversation I’d ever  have, isn’t?

Bio:

Reema Sherin is a poet and author, born in Kerala, India and raised between its monsoons and the Middle East, carrying memories of rain, oud, and cardamom into her thoughts. She is the author of two poetry collections, Strings and Scarring, where she explores themes of grief, love, absence, and resilience. Holding a postgraduate degree in English Literature, she hopes to pursue a PhD and continue exploring the ways literature gives language to emotions that often remain unaddressed.


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Interviewed By: Vanshika Gupta