Tanja Maljartschuk is one of the most prolific and audacious young authors currently writing in Ukrainian, with a hallmark style blending searing social commentary with heartwarming humor and an appreciation for the human condition.
The author of eight books of prose, her work has been translated into ten languages and is widely available in German. Tanja’s writing has been supported by various governmental and private fellowships from the Chancellery of Austria, the Academy of the Arts of Berlin, the Polish Ministry of Culture and KulturKontakt Austria, among others. She is a past winner of the Joseph Conrad
Korzienowski Literary Prize (Poland-Ukraine) and the Kristal Vilencia Award (Slovenia). A Biography of a Chance Miracle, Tanja’s first novel and sixth book, was a finalist for the prestigious BBC Book of the Year Award in Ukraine, an award she subsequently won in 2016 for her novel Forgottenness.
In 2018 she was selected as one of 14 semi-finalists in the Festival of German-Language Literature, as one of the only two non-native speakers of German in the list. A number of prizes will be awarded at the Festival, including the prestigious Ingeborg Bachmann Prize. (German announcement here)
A number of her stories are available in English in the anthologies Best European Fiction, Herstories and Women in Times of Change, as well as in literary magazines such as World Literature Today (“The Demon of Hunger“), Words Without Borders, Belletrista (“Canis Lupus Famliaris“) and Apofenie (“Losers Want More“).
A Biography of a Chance Miracle is Tanja’s first book to be made available in English; an English translation of her novel Forgottenness is in progress.