For the past three years, I’ve been keeping track of English-language books published by Soviet-born émigré authors in the U.S.
It began because I wanted to know who else was out there besides the few prominent authors such as Gary Shteyngart, Ilya Kaminsky, and Lara Vapnyar, and journalists like Masha and Keith Gessen, Julia Ioffe, Simon Shuster and Simon Ostrovsky.
The Soviet-born writer diaspora felt fractured. There were no organizations uniting us. Not even a social media group. So I decided to find as many people as I could on Twitter and make a list. I ended up with 80 names and put together a private Facebook group so we could get to know each other, exchange resources and support each other’s work. This was in December 2021, three months before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
And suddenly, it felt like there hasn’t been a better time for us to come together to support each other. That was when this annual book list was born.
2024 books by soviet emigre authors
Until the Last Pickle: A memoir in 18 recipes by Yuliya Patsay
A memoir replete with remembrances, anecdotes, and exactly 18 recipes, Until the Last Pickle is an exploration of identity and belonging told through the lens of one family’s immigration journey.
The Showman by Simon Shuster (January 23, William Morrow)
The Showman gives an insider’s perspective on the war in Ukraine based on one journalist’s unprecedented access to Volodymyr Zelensky and the high command in Kyiv.
Mother Doll by Katya Apekina (March 12, Abrams)
Prize-winning author Katya Apekina’s second novel, Mother Doll, is an intricately constructing nesting doll of a novel about four generations of mothers and daughters and the inherited trauma cast by the Russian Revolution and its wake.
Your Presence is Mandatory by Sasha Vasilyuk (that’s me!) (April 23, Bloomsbury)
My debut novel, spanning from WWII to today’s Russia-Ukraine conflict and based on my family, is a story of a WWII vet with a secret and his family who lives in the shadow of all they don’t know.
The Dissident by Paul Goldberg (June 4, Macmillan, in paperback)
A thrilling, witty, and slyly original Cold War mystery about a ragtag group of Jewish refuseniks in Moscow that starts out when, in a nod to Crime & Punishment, two gay men, one of whom is a U.S. official, are axed to death in 1970s Moscow.
All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky (July 9, Catapult, in paperback)
An instant national bestseller that came out in 2023, Madievsky’s debut is a fever dream of an LA novel (with a memorable jaunt to Moldova) about a young woman who commits a drunken act of violence just before her sister vanishes without a trace.
A Party for Florina by Yevgenia Nayberg (July 16, Penguin Random House)
A children’s picture book about a young girl who forms a special connection to the modernist painter Florine Stettheimer, and imagines herself joining in on Florine’s exciting life.
2023 Books by Soviet Emigre Authors
ALL-NIGHT PHARMACY by Ruth Madievsky
TOSKA by Alina Pleskova
40 WEEKS by Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach
THE DISSIDENT by Paul Goldberg
IMMIGRANT BAGGAGE by Maxim Shrayer
THE ORCHARD by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry (paperback)
SHORT, VIGOROUS ROOTS (anthology) by Mark Budman
2022 Books by Soviet Emigre Authors
PARENTING WITH AN ACCENT by Masha Rumer
A TRAIN TO MOSCOW by Elena Gorokhova
MY HOLLYWOOD AND OTHER POEMS by Boris Dralyuk
THE ORCHARD by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry
SO THEY REMEMBER by Maksim Goldenshteyn
MY MOTHER’S SECRET by Alina Adams
HOW THE SOVIET JEW WAS MADE by Sasha Senderovich
I HATE BORSCH by Yevgenia Nayberg
RAISING RAFFI by Keith Gessen
LITTLE FOXES TOOK UP MATCHES by Katya Kazbek
THE MOST EXCELLENT IMMIGRANT by Mark Budman
2021 Books by Soviet Emigre Authors
OUR COUNTRY FRIENDS by Gary Shteyngart
SOMETHING UNBELIEAVABLE by Maria Kuznetsova
LOVE LIKE WATER, LOVE LIKE FIRE by Mikhail Iossel
THE CHARMED WIFE by Olga Grushin
I NAMED MY DOG PUSHKIN by Margarita Gokun Silver
MONA LISA IN NEW YORK by Yevgenia Nayberg
AN ACCIDENTAL AMERICAQN ODYSSEY by Mark Budman
THE GENIUS UNDER THE TABLE by Eugene Yelchin