Oksana Vasyakina (russian: Оксана Юрьевна Васякина; born 18 December 1989) is a Russian poet, artist, curator, and feminist activist.

Biography

Oksana Vasyakina was born on December 18, 1989, in the city of Ust-Ilimsk,

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...

in a working-class family. She wrote her first poetic text at the age of 14. In 2016 she graduated from the poetry department of the

Maxim Gorky Literature Institute The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute (russian: Литературный институт им. А. М. Горького) is an institution of higher education in Moscow. It is located at 25 Tverskoy Boulevard in central Moscow. History The insti ...

. She studied in the workshop of . Vasyakina has participated in poetry festivals and slams in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...

, Perm, Vladimir and Moscow. Her work has been published in a variety of magazines, including '' Vozduch'', ''

Colta.ru Colta.ru (from Italian colta - "harvesting", "educated, enlightened") is a Russian Internet publication covering contemporary art and culture. The first Russian media outlet fully funded by crowdfunding using the “Share” service on the Plan ...

'', and ''Snob''. In 2019 she was awarded with the prestigious Lyceum Pushkin Prize for her poetic cycle "When We Lived in Siberia". Vasyakina's first poetry collection, ''Женская проза'' ( English: ''Women's Prose'' or '' Chick lit'') was published in 2016, followed by the self-published ''Ветер ярости'' ( English: ''Wind of Rage'') in 2017. ''Wind of Rage'' is a lengthy poem focusing on the experiences of a sexual abuse survivor and was originally distributed for free. In 2019, ''Wind of Rage'' along with several other poems and interviews was re-published by AST in a collection of the same name. An English translation by Jonathan Brooks Platt, entitled "Wind of Fury -- Songs of Fury", was published in '' Sinister Wisdom'' in 2018. Vasyakina's first

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

''Wound'', a memoir about her recently deceased mother, was published in 2021. The novel was shortlisted for

Big Book Award Big Book (russian: Большая Книга, Bolshaya Kniga) is a Russian literary award for best prose in Russian. The award is financed by the founders of the Center for the Support of Domestic Literature, Russian major businessmen and busi ...

. ''Wound'' was followed by two sequels, ''Steppe'' (2022) and ''Rose'' (2023). ''Steppe'' chronicles Oksana's relationship with her father, a truck driver who died of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, while ''Rose'' is centered around the short life of her aunt Sventlana and deals with Oksana's coming to terms with her own

mortality Mortality is the state of being mortal, or susceptible to death; the opposite of immortality. Mortality may also refer to: * Fish mortality, a parameter used in fisheries population dynamics to account for the loss of fish in a fish stock throug ...

and

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

. An English-language edition of ''Wound'', translated by Elina Alter, is to be published by

Catapult A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stored p ...

in 2023.''Wound: A Novel'' by Oksana Vasyakina & Elina Alter
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References

Russian women poets 1989 births Living people Russian LGBT rights activists Maxim Gorky Literature Institute alumni Russian feminists {{Russia-poet-stub