Svetlana Alexievich

Svetlana Alexievich is one of the most remarkable authors of our time. Born in 1948 in the former Soviet Union (in a territory that is now part of Ukraine), she grew up in Belarus, where she began her career as a journalist and writer. Her work stands out for its use of oral history, gathering testimonies from ordinary people to build profound narratives about tragic moments in Soviet and post-Soviet history.

Throughout her work, Alexievich deals with themes such as the Second World War, the war in Afghanistan, the Chernobyl disaster and the fall of the Soviet Union. In The Unwomanly Face of War (1985), she gave a voice to the women who fought in the Second World War, exposing their fears, sacrifices and traumas. In Zinky Boys (1991), she revealed the suffering of the Soviet soldiers who fought in Afghanistan. And in Voices from Chernobyl (1997), she gathered testimonies from the victims of the nuclear disaster, showing the human dimension of the tragedy.

Her literary style breaks with tradition: Alexievich writes neither novels nor essays, but builds her books from real voices, creating a "novel of voices", as she herself puts it. The result is powerful and deeply emotional writing that gives space to those forgotten by History.

In 2015 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first Belarusian to receive the honour. The committee highlighted "her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time".

Svetlana Alexievich doesn't just write about historical events: she writes about people. Her works are a testimony to the power of memory and to the importance of giving a voice to those who were silenced. Her literary legacy is a tribute to human pain, truth and resistance.