Global Dialogues

Maria Stepanova is a poet, novelist, and editor who explores memory, history, and displacement. She is the author of ten poetry collections, three books of essays, and two novels. Stepanova’s collections Holy Winter 20/21 (2024) and War of the Beasts and the Animals (2021) were named Poetry Book Society Translation Choices and received PEN Translates awards. Her novel In Memory of Memory (2017) was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize and her most recent book, The Disappearing Act, was published in February 2026. 

In 2012, Stepanova founded Colta.ru, an independent, crowd-sourced online journal covering culture and politics in contemporary Russia, where she served as editor-in-chief. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the publication was shut down amid a sweeping crackdown on dissenting media. A prominent critic of Putin’s regime, Stepanova now lives in exile.