Author’s Bio:
Alena Maksakowa (Алена Максакова) is a writer, poet, and editor originally from Kharkiv, Ukraine, and currently in Mainz, Germany. She holds a degree in Russian literature from the University of Kharkiv. Her work has appeared in various publications, including EWLF, Articulation, ROAR, Harpy Hybrid Review, Interpoezia, Слово/Word, Signaturen, and Golden Fleece. Her poems have been translated into Ukrainian, English, German, and Greek. She is the author of a poetry collection Маленький Дневник (A Small Diary). Alena is one of the organizers of the Hannover Spring Festival.
Translator’s Bio:
Yana Kane (Яна Кане) came to the United States as a refugee from the Soviet Union. She holds a BSE from Princeton University, a PhD in Statistics from Cornell University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her book of translations of Ukrainian poet Dmitry Blizniuk titled My Fish Will Stay Alive is forthcoming from Serving House Books. She won the 2024 RHINO Poetry Translation Prize, was a finalist for the 2025 Gabo Prize, and received an honorable mention in the 2024 Stephen Mitchell Prize competition. Her translations appeared in Deep Vellum’s 2025 Best Literary Translations anthology and were listed for their 2026 anthology. She is grateful to Bruce Esrig for editing her English-language texts.