Alla Melenteva

Alla Melenteva is a Russian-language writer, literary critic and translator based in Kyiv, Ukraine. She studied structural and applied linguistics at Saint Petersburg State University and has worked as an English teacher and as a news editor. Melenteva is known for her novels The Dostoevsky Girls and Rin’s Family, as well as essays and criticism on autonomy, identity, memory, and moral complexity in times of political fracture.

Her work defies ideological conformity, navigating a landscape of polarization and war where her independence is often met with suspicion in Russia and misunderstanding in Ukraine. An active feminist voice, she explores questions of gender, freedom, and social responsibility. Despite the challenges of wartime life, Melenteva continues to write and develop personal projects, sustaining her creative practice under conditions that put artistic honesty to the test while making it more essential than ever.

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