Anthologies#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Nine of Russia’s Foremost Women Writers |
2003 |
Buy |
Non-Fiction#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| In Search of the Free Individual |
2018 |
Buy |
| Chernobyl’s Prayer |
2026 |
Buy |
Voices of Utopia Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Unwomanly Face of War / War’s Unwomanly Face |
1983 |
Buy |
| ليس للحرب وجه أنثوي |
1983 |
N/A |
| آخر الشهود |
1985 |
N/A |
| Zinky Boys |
1989 |
Buy |
| Voices from Chernobyl |
1997 |
Buy |
| Tschernobyl |
1997 |
N/A |
| Secondhand Time |
2016 |
Buy |
| Last Witnesses |
2019 |
Buy |
Svetlana Alexievich (born 1948) is a Belarusian investigative journalist who developed a unique form of documentary prose. Her books are built from interviews with hundreds of people, stitched together to create collective portraits of historical events. She spent decades recording the voices of Soviet women who fought in World War II, soldiers who served in Afghanistan, survivors of the Chernobyl disaster, and ordinary citizens who lived through the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Her method, which she calls “novels of voices,” won her the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015. The committee cited her work as “a monument to suffering and courage in our time.” Her books have been translated into dozens of languages and are read as both literature and historical testimony.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has Svetlana Alexievich written?
Svetlana Alexievich has written eleven books across three series.
What was Svetlana Alexievich's first book?
Svetlana Alexievich’s first book is The Unwomanly Face of War / War’s Unwomanly Face, published in 1983.
What is Svetlana Alexievich known for?
Alexievich is known for her oral history books, in which she compiles the voices of hundreds of ordinary people to tell the stories of Soviet wars, disasters, and daily life. Her best-known works include Voices from Chernobyl, Zinky Boys, and Secondhand Time. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015.