About the Author
Jana Bakunina is a Russian-born Londoner. She writes about Russia, London and everything in between, especially if it involves identity or a lost sense of belonging.Her stories were longlisted for the 2021 and 2022 Fish Short Story Prize, shortlisted for the 2022 Bridport Prize, and she became a finalist of the 2022 London Independent Short Story Prize. In 2023, her story, “Ruby”, came second in the Olga Sinclair Prize competition.Jana Bakunina is the author of Bird’s Milk (2017), a memoir about growing up in the Soviet Union and moving to the West. She has written for the Financial Times, The Standard and New Statesman.Her new non-fiction book, The Good Russian, is coming out in November 2025 (Bridge Street Press/Little Brown/Hachette). She is represented by Elliot Prior and Rachel Goldblatt at Curtis Brown.
Stories by a Russian Londoner is a collection of short stories that explores how political events mould our identities, challenge our beliefs and redefine our relationships, drawing from the author’s first-hand experience as a Russian.In this debut work of fiction, a Londoner tries to mend a broken relationship with her Russian father in The Repair Job, in Alya, a talented young woman perishes in the gilded cage of her marriage, in Tamara Ivanovna Talks to Herself, a lonely widow is nagged by guilt. The final story, Up Against the Wall, provides a bittersweet consolation of acceptance, resilience and hope.Stories by a Russian Londoner take readers on a journey through love, loss and redemption, capturing the diverse experiences set in Russia, London and beyond.
In Bird's Milk, Jana Bakunina tells the story of her childhood in the Soviet Union from the early days of perestroika to the collapse of the USSR, offering a unique insight into the lives of ordinary Russians. Bird's Milk reveals a period of turbulent political and economic changes but also a heart-warming world of blini and pelmeni, weekends spent at the family dacha and summer camps on the Black Sea.Bird's Milk is a tale of growing up, struggling to belong and make sense of what it means to love one’s country, whilst being something of an outsider both at home and abroad.“Bird's Milk is a wonderful evocation of an ordinary Russian childhood in a town in the middle of the country – and then the personal journey that turned a Russian into a westerner. Jana Bakunina understands both sides of what has been called the ‘new Cold War.’ This is a memoir that helps illuminate today’s world.” – Simon Kuper, FT
Coaching services for writers
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