Rusina Olya

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 5, 1995. Writer and journalist. She graduated with a B.A. in
Polish Studies from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a B.A. in
Journalism from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.

Her first book Little Sister was published by Staryi Lev when she was 16 years old; the book
was included in the long list of the BBC Book of the Year 2012 award and received the
Children's Choice Award at the International Literary Festival in Lviv. Theatrical script based
on the book 34 Sunny Days and One Gloomy Day (scriptwriter Iryna Shamakhina) won in
the nomination Plays for 7 to 12 Years Old Children at the Book on Stage competition of
Ukrainian-language plays for children and adolescents. The screenplay based on the same
book, co-authored by Valeriy Puzik, entered the finals of the Coronation of the Word Award.
The book Mia and Lunar Eclipse was shortlisted for the BBC Book of the Year 2019,
BaraBuka’s Top 2019, and Espreso. Readers' Choice 2020.

She is anchoring newscasts at Hromadske Radio, also working on stories about civil
initiatives in the east of Ukraine; within the projects To Be Continued she created a series of
reports Person about the iconic figures of Donbas. She is the editor and writer at Our Word,
a Ukrainian weekly in Warsaw; translates from Polish. Writes reviews of children's literature
for the Barabuka website. At various times she contributed to the publications, such as Ha!
Art, Nowa Europa Wschodnia, and Litakcent. Lives and works in Kyiv.