Photo by Christopher Michel
Sasha Vasilyuk is a journalist and author of the debut novel Your Presence Is Mandatory (Bloomsbury) about a Ukrainian Jewish WWII soldier and his family who reckon with his lifelong secrecy. The novel is longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel award and translated into six languages. In Italy, it became an instant bestseller.
Sasha grew up between Ukraine and Russia before immigrating to the U.S. at the age of 13. She has a BA from UC Berkeley and a MA in Journalism from New York University. Her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, CNN, TIME, Los Angeles Times, Harper’s Bazaar, USA Today, KQED, San Francisco Chronicle, The Telegraph, and Narrative. She has won several writing awards, including the Solas Award for Best Travel Writing and the NATJA award.
Before becoming an author, she had founded a leading wedding PR company and the first coworking space in San Francisco. She also spent a year traveling alone around the world.
Sasha lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children.