List of Russian women writers

This is a list of women writers who were born in Russia or whose writings are closely associated with that country.

A Bella Akhmadulina (1937–2010), poet, short story writer, translator Anna Akhmatova (1899–1966), acclaimed poet, author of Requiem Elizaveta Akhmatova (1820–1904), "Leila" published a journal for 30 years with translations of English and French writers Elena Akselrod (born 1932), Belarus-born Russian poet, translator Ogdo Aksyonova (1936–1995), poet, short story writer, founder of Dolgan written literature Tatiana Aleshina (born 1961), singer-songwriter, poet, short story writer Margarita Aliger (1915–1992), poet, essayist, journalist Svetlana Alliluyeva (1926–2011), daughter of Joseph Stalin, memoirist, biographer, author of Twenty Letters to a Friend Al Altaev (1852–1959), writer for children Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861–1937), psychoanalyst, memoirist, literary essayist, novelist, often writing in German Domna Anisimova (19th century), poet Nina Pávlovna Annenkova-Bernár (1859/64–1933) actress, writer, playwright Varvara Annenkova (1795–1866), prominent poet Alexandra Nikitichna Annenskaya (1840–1915), translator and writer of feminist novels Olga Anstei (1912–1985), writer about the Holocaust Elena Ivanovna Apréleva (1846–1923), non-fiction writer, short story writer, memoirist, playwright, children's writer Maria Arbatova (born 1957), novelist, playwright, poet, journalist, feminist Olga Arefieva (born 1966), singer-songwriter, poet, musician Yekaterina Avdeyeva (1788–1865), non-fiction writer

B Anna Barkova (1901–1976), poet, journalist, playwright, essayist, memoirist, novelist Anna Barykova (1839–1893), poet, satirist and translator Agniya Barto (1906–1981), poet, children's writer, screenwriter Olga Mihaylovna Bebutova (1879–1952), actress, novelist, magazine editor Maria Belakhova (1903–1969), children's writer, magazine editor, educator Katerina Belkina (born 1974), photographer, painter Nina Berberova (1901–1993), short story writer, novelist, biographer, author of the autobiography The Italics are Mine Lydia Yudifovna Berdyaev (1871–1945), poet Olga Bergholz (1910–1975), poet, playwright, journalist Antonina Bludova (1813–1891), salonist, memoirist Natella Boltyanskaya (born 1965), songwriter, poet, radio host Marina Boroditskaya (born 1954), poet, children's writer, translator Vera Broido (1907–2004), memoirist, non-fiction writer, autobiographer Anna Bunina (1774–1829), poet, first Russian women to earn a living from writing

C Lidia Charskaya (1875–1938), novelist, works recently revived Svetlana Chervonnaya (born 1948), historian, non-fiction writer, essayist Elena Chudinova (born 1959), novelist, poet, playwright, columnist Lydia Chukovskaya (1907–1996), novelist, author of Sofia Petrovna

D Tatyana Danilyants (born 1971), film director, photographer, poet Hadiya Davletshina (1905–1954), Baskir poet, prose writer, playwright Irina Denezhkina (born 1981), short story writer Marina Denikina (1919–2005), Russian-born French historical novelist, journalist Regina Derieva (1949–2013), widely translated poet, essayist Valentina Dmitryeva (1859–1947), short story writer, children's writer, autobiographer Aliona Doletskaya (born 1955), journalist, editor, television host, translator Veronika Dolina (born 1956), poet, songwriter Darya Dontsova (born 1952), best selling crime-fiction novelist, autobiographer Anna Dostoyevskaya (1846–1918), memoirist, biographer Lyubov Dostoyevskaya (1869–1926), biographer of Dostoyevsky, memoirist, short story writer, novelist Yulia Drunina (1924–1991), poet Svetlana Druzhinina (born 1935), actress, screenwriter, film director Miroslava Duma (born 1985), fashion writer, magazine editor

E Tamara Eidelman (born 1959), contemporary historian, translator, contributor to Russian Life Roza Eldarova (1923–2021), journalist, memoirist, politician

F Elena Fanailova (born 1962), journalist, poet, columnist, translator Dorothea de Ficquelmont (1804–1863), diarist (in French), letter writer Vera Figner (1852–1942), revolutionary memoirist, biographer, columnist Olga Forsh (1873–1961), novelist, playwright, memoirist Elena Frolova (born 1969), singer-songwriter, poet

G Cherubina de Gabriak, pen name of Elisaveta Ivanovna Dmitrieva (1887–1928), poet, translator Nina Gagen-Torn (1900–1986), poet, short story writer, historian Nora Gal (1912–1991), critic, essayist, prominent translator Alisa Ganieva (born 1985), pen name Gulla Khirachev, novelist, short story writer, essayist Tatiana Garmash-Roffe (born 1959), novelist, short story writer, detective story writer Liudmila Gatagova, historian, since c.1993 several historical works Vera Gedroitz (1870–1932), medical doctor, poet Marina Gershenovich (born 1960), poet, translator Masha Gessen (born 1967), journalist, columnist, biographer, writing in Russian and English Lidiya Ginzburg (1902–1990), critic, historian, memoirist Yevgenia Ginzburg (1904–1977), educator, journalist, historian, memoirist Zinaida Gippius (1869–1945), modernist poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, translator, several works translated into English Avdotia Glinka (1795–1863), spiritual writer, poet and translator Maria Golovnina (c.1980–2015), journalist, Reuters bureau chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan Natalya Gorbanevskaya (1936–2013), poet, translator Nina Gorlanova (born 1947), short story writer, novelist Anastasia Gosteva (born 1975), novelist, short story writer, poet, journalist Isabella Grinevskaya (1864–1944), novelist, playwright Olga Grushin (born 1971), Russian-American novelist, translator Elena Guro (1877–1913), playwright, poet, novelist, artist

I Vera Inber (1890–1972), poet, essayist, translator Aleksandra Ishimova (1805–1881), children's writer, translator Nina Iskrenko (1951–1995), poet Lidiya Ivanova (1936–2007), journalist, television presenter Praskovya Ivanovskaya (1852–1935), revolutionary, memoirist

J Nadezhda Joffe (1906–1999), memoirist, biographer

K Vera Kamsha (born 1962), Ukrainian-born Russian journalist, fantasy novelist Irina Karnaoukhova (1901–1959), Ukrainian-Russian children's writer and folklorist Anna Kashina, Russian-American novelist, completed The Princess of Dhagabad in 2000 Rimma Kazakova (1932–2008), poet, popular songwriter Elena Kazantseva (born 1956), Belarusian-born Russian poet, songwriter Eufrosinia Kersnovskaya (1908–1994), Gulag memoirist Nadezhda Khvoshchinskaya (1824–1889), novelist, poet, critic, translator Marusya Klimova (born 1961), prominent non-fiction writer, literary historian, translator Ekaterina Kniazhnina (1746–1797), poet, salonist, considered by some to be the first Russian woman writer Alexandra Kollontai (1872–1952), politician, writer Ina Konstantinova (1924–1944), wartime diarist Sofia Kovalevskaya (1859–1891), mathematician, non-fiction writer Nadezhda Kozhevnikova (born 1949), journalist, essayist Zoya Krakhmalnikova (1929–2008), dissident journalist, autobiographer Elena Krishtof (1925–2001), writer, and educator Yustina Kruzenshtern-Peterets (1903–1983), journalist and poet in the diaspora Olga Kryuchkova (born 1966), historical novelist

L Nadezhda Lappo-Danilevsky (1874–1951), poet, novelist Anna Larina (1914–1996), memoirist Yulia Latynina (born 1966), journalist, novelist, television presenter Marina Lesko, since 1992, journalist, columnist Sonya Levien (1888–1960), screenwriter Olga Lipovskaya (1954–2021), poet, magazine editor, feminist Mirra Lokhvitskaya (1869–1905), acclaimed poet Nina Lugovskaya (1918–1993), Gulag diarist

M Yelena Maglevannaya (born 1981), journalist Natalia Malakhovskaia (born 1947), feminist writer Tatiana Mamonova (born 1943), poet, journalist, feminist Nadezhda Mandelstam (1899–1980), memoirist, biographer Anna Margolin (1887–1952), Russian-American Yiddish-language poet Alexandra Marinina (born 1957), best selling crime fiction novelist, works widely translated Maria Markova (born 1982), poet Novella Matveyeva (1934–2016), poet, songwriter, screenwriter, playwright Olga Martynova (born 1962), poet, essayist, writing in Russian and German Larisa Matros (born 1938), sociologist, novelist, short story writer, critic, poet Novella Matveyeva (1934–2016), poet, screenwriter, dramatist, singer-songwriter Vera Matveyeva (1945–1976), poet, singer-songwriter Ida Mett (1901–1973), historical writer, magazine editor Vera Mikhailova (1907–1985), children's writer and journalist Elena Milashina (born 1977), investigative journalist Maria Moravskaya (1890–1947), poet, essayist, critic, translator Yunna Morits (born 1937), poet, translator, short story writer, children's writer Margarita Morozova (1873–1958), publisher, memoirist Tatyana Moskvina (1958–2022), columnist, novelist, journalist, critic, television host Lena Mukhina (1924–1991), wartime diarist in Leningrad

N Maria de Naglowska (1883–1936), occultist writer, journalist, translator, wrote in French Vera Nazarian (born 1966), Armenian-Russian American science fiction novelist Tsarevna Natalya Alexeyevna of Russia (1673–1716), playwright Zhanna Nemtsova (born 1984), journalist, social activist Aleksandra Nikolaenko (born 1976), writer and winner of the 2017 Russian Booker Prize

O Irina Odoyevtseva (1895–1990), poet, novelist, memoirist Raisa Orlova (1918–1989), literary historian, journalist, latterly in Germany

P Marina Palei (born 1955), journalist, novelist, short story writer, translator Avdotya Panaeva (1820–1893), novelist, short story writer, memoirist, salonist Vera Panova (1905–1973), novelist, playwright, journalist, works translated into English Sophia Parnok (1885–1933), poet, children's writer, translator Karolina Pavlova (1807–1893), poet, novelist Vera Pavlova (born 1963), poet Olga Perovskaya (1902–1961), children's writer Kyra Petrovskaya Wayne (1918–2018), Russian-American non-fiction writer, autobiographer Maria Petrovykh (1908–1979), poet, translator Lyudmila Petrushevskaya (born 1938), novelist, playwright, singer Irina Petrushova (born 1965), journalist, newspaper editor Anna Politkovskaya (1958–2006), journalist, human rights activist Elizaveta Polonskaya (1890–1969), poet, translator, journalist Sofiya Pregel (1894–1972), poet Maria Prilezhayeva (1903–1989), children's writer, critic, novelist Rufina Ivanovna Pukhova (1932–2021), memoirist, wife of Kim Philby

R Rita Rait-Kovaleva (1898–1989), memoirist, translator Ayn Rand (1905–1982), Russian-born American novelist, philosopher Maria Rasputin (1898–1977), memoirist Irina Ratushinskaya (1954–2017), poet, memoirist Helena Roerich (1879–1955), philosopher, artist, non-fiction writer, letter writer, translator Yevdokiya Rostopchina (1811–1858), early poet, playwright, translator Dina Rubina (born 1953), Russian-Israeli novelist, short story writer, essayist Maria Rybakova (born 1973), short story writer, novelist Elena Rzhevskaya (1919–2017), Second World War memoirist

S Irina Saburova (1907–1979), journalist, short story writer, novelist, translator Nina Mikhailovna Sadur (1950–2023), playwright and prose writer Konkordiya Samoilova (1876–1921), founding editor of Pravda Nathalie Sarraute (1900–1999), Russian-French novelist, playwright, memoirist Tanya Savicheva (1930–1944), Leningrad diarist Olesya Shmagun (born 1987), investigative journalist Olga Sedakova (born 1949), poet, translator Ekaterina Sedia (born 1970), Russian-American fantasy novelist, author of The Alchemy of Stone Comtesse de Ségur (1799–1874), Russian-French novelist Yulia Sineokaya (born 1969), philosopher and educator Marietta Shaginyan (1888–1982), novelist, political activist Olga Shapir (1850–1916), novelist, feminist Margarita Sharapova (born 1962), novelist, short story writer, now living in Portugal Tatiana Shchepkina-Kupernik (1874–1952), poet, columnist, playwright, translator Natalia Sheremeteva (1714–1771), early memoirist Maria Shkapskaya (1891–1952), poet, essayist, journalist Paullina Simons (born 1963), Russian-American best selling novelist