stories This International Women’s Day, here are eight Russian women writers you should know 10:27, 8 march 2019 In celebration of International Women’s Day, Meduza in English is highlighting the work of eight women who write literature in Russian but are poised to make major breakthroughs in English translation. Each of these miniature profiles includes a taste of the author’s writing, a brief description of her career, and a list of key translations or interviews that have already brought her voice into English.

Alisa Ganieva Erik Prozes / Scanpix / LETA “She was trying to stand up, but the armchair seemed to be chewing her up in its leather maw.” From the moment Alisa Ganieva released her debut book at the age of 25, she started proving her fans right and her critics wrong. As the first writer from the North Caucasian region of Dagestan to gain international attention, Ganieva faced double binds that will sound familiar to writers of color in the Anglophone world: some critics were skeptical of her youth, others of the importance of her early fiction about her home region, and still others of her credibility in writing fiction that is not about Dagestan. Nonetheless, in the first ten-odd years of her career, Ganieva has both expanded the capacity of the Russian language in her prose and used her public platform as an author to advocate for important political causes. While Carol Apollonio has ensured that Ganieva already has a sizeable English-language audience, recent attention in forums like the LA Review of Books and the BBC might expand that audience even further. So might Ganieva’s latest novel, which brings Dostoevskian small-town drama to the present day. Selected works and interviews in English: The Mountain and the Wall, translated by Carol Apollonio. Deep Vellum, 2015.

Bride & Groom, translated by Carol Apollonio. Deep Vellum, 2018.

“Thirteen,” translated by Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler. The Missing Slate, March 2017.

Excerpt from Offended Sensibilities, translated by Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler. Apofenie, May 2018.

“Offended Sensibilities ft. Alisa Ganieva,” interview with Olivia Capozzalo and Smith Freeman, She’s in Russia, May 2018.

“To What Do I Belong?” in To What Do I Belong? Traversing Differences, Bridging Narratives. University of Iowa International Writing Program, April 2018. Quote from Offended Sensibilities translated by Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler.

Anna Starobinets Masha Kushnir for Meduza “I’m waiting for mercy. It should be here any minute now.” When readers compare Anna Starobinets to English-language writers, the first name that comes up is almost always Stephen King. Horror fans brought Starobinets to fame in Russian, but her writing doesn’t stop there: she is also a popular author of speculative fiction for children. In the last year, a BBC interview and a new series of translations have made it increasingly likely that Anglophone readers will choose to experience the extraordinary angle Starobinets brings to contemporary fiction. Selected works and interviews in English: “The Mercy Bus,” translated by Mary C. Gannon, in Moscow Noir, edited by Natalia Smirnova and Julia Goumen. Akashic Books, 2010.

Beastly Crimes series, translated by Jane Bugaeva. Dover, 2018-2019.

“Anna Starobinets,” interview with Natalia Golysheva. BBC World Service, February 2019.

An Awkward Age, translated by Hugh Aplin. Hesperus Press, 2011.

The Icarus Gland and Other Stories, translated by James Rann. Skyscraper Publications, 2014.

Catlantis, translated by Jane Bugaeva and illustrated by Andrzej Klimowski. New York Review Books, 2016.

The Living, translated by James Rann. Hesperus Press, 2012. Quote from “The Mercy Bus” translated by Mary C. Gannon.

Nariné Abgaryan Развернуть “The world is small, and we are big. It’s only out of naïveté and stupidity that we think for our entire lives it’s the other way around.” Don’t let the minimal English-language coverage of Nariné Abgaryan’s career fool you. The Armenian prose writer and nonprofit advocate has managed to become a literary star in a language (Russian) and a city (Moscow) that typically does not put Armenian small-town life, her preferred subject, at center stage. While her newer writings for adults have been slightly less wildly popular than the beloved children’s series that launched her career, Abgaryan’s work conveys a deep belief in the resilience of humanity without glossing over the horrors of human conflict. It’s only a matter of time before her work hits the shelves in English to inspire adults and children both. Selected coverage in English: “Munching on Abgaryan's Three Apples,” review by Lisa Hayden. Lizok’s Bookshelf, August 2015.

“Narine Abgaryan's People Who Are Always With Me,” review by Lisa Hayden. Lizok’s Bookshelf, November 2015.

“New Russian fiction: novels about Armenia and Siberia, stories of sexual violence,” reviews by Galina Yuzefovich, translated by Hilah Kohen. Meduza In English, February 2018.

“Narine Abgaryan: Longing Is Behind My Every Book,” interview with Hasmik Vantsyan. PanARMENIAN.Net, June 2017. Quote from Three Apples Fell from the Sky translated by the author of this piece.

Alexandra Petrova The University of Iowa “Space is slowly squeezing itself into a cone. A racing electron stumbles.” Like Stepanova, Alexandra Petrova is a poet-turned-prose writer. However, her writing taps into an understanding of international movement that is rare even in the increasingly global field of Russian-language literature. Petrova’s first novel, Appendix, draws on the author’s experience living long-term in four different countries, including Israel and Italy. Her current home city, Rome, seems to become a ninth main character as the eight-voiced novel grapples with questions of gender, migration, and empire. Petrova’s recent visits to the United States have pointed to a growing interest in her work in academic circles that might spill over to a broader readership. Selected works and interviews in English: “An excerpt from Alexandra Petrova’s Appendix,” translated by Maya Vinokour. All the Russias, February 2018.

“The Ministry of Hot Water,” translated by Stephanie Sandler. Guernica, October 2010.

Selected poems submitted to the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, translated by Lena Lenchek and Rachel Smith. 2011.

“Alexandra Petrova: 'Russia, My Blind Mother,'” interview with Rita Malikonyte Mockus. Sampsonia Way, October 2011. Quote from “The Ministry of Hot Water” translated by Stephanie Sandler.