Nora Nadjarian was born in 1966 in Limassol, a city on the southern coast of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Her grandparents were Armenian refugees who moved to Cyprus in the beginning of the 20th century. She first attended an Armenian elementary school, then moved to a private school called Foley's Grammar School where she graduated from high school. She obtained a degree from Manchester University's department of modern languages and linguistics and then returned to Cyprus. She taught in Limassol and then in Nicosia, where she is currently residing. She visited her ancestral homeland of Armenia in 1983 which inspired her to write poems based on ethnic identity, cultural self-discovery, her Armenian roots and the tragic fate of the nation. She first decided to participate in a competition because of the encouragements of a friend, and after being acknowledged for her poem "Vinegar" (1999–2000) she continued to take part in numerous international competitions.