Olga Maslova is a Ukrainian-American poet, writer, and theater designer, born and raised in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Her poetry appears in Beloit Poetry Journal, New Ohio Review (nominated for Best of the Net 2024), New American Writing, Plume Poetry, Frontier Poetry (second place, 2023 Ekphrastic Prize), LitMag, Rhino Poetry, Strange Horizons, Naugatuck River Review (semi-finalist, Naugatuck Prize), and elsewhere. Her manuscript Light Travels was a semi-finalist for the 2024 St. Lawrence Book Award. She is a MacDowell Fellow and Fulbright Scholar.

Before immigrating to the United States, Maslova worked as a metal turner, a theater instructor in the Kharkiv Juvenile Detention Center for Girls, and in one of the first Russian Waldorf schools. She holds a BFA in directing from Kharkiv’s Academy of Culture, an MFA in dramaturgy from Stony Brook University, and an MFA in costume and set design from NYU/Tisch. She is currently Associate Professor of Costume Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Maslova’s theatrical work has been staged across the U.S., South America, and Europe, with designs featured at Teatro Mayor (Bogotá), Teatro Amazonas (Manaus), and Harris Theatre (Chicago). Her libretti have been performed at the Tretyakov Gallery and Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow, as well as at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in the U.S. Reviews of her designs have ranged from “spectacular” (Opera News) to “madly inventive” (Backstage)

Recent news: Winner – LitMag’s Emily Dickinson Award for Poetry (2025)