Oksana Marafioti
Oksana Marafioti | |
|---|---|
 Oksana Marafioti | |
| Born | Oksana Kopylenko 1974 (age 51–52) |
| Website | oksana-marafioti |
Oksana Marafioti (née Kopylenko, born 1974) is an American writer and educator of Romani and Armenian descent. She is the author of American Gypsy: A Memoir (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012), which has been translated into Czech.
Early life
Marafioti was born in Riga, Latvia in 1974[1] to a Greek-Armenian mother and a Ukrainian Romani father.[2][3] Although she officially had residence in Moscow, she had a largely nomadic childhood, with her parents performing as part of a travelling circus owned by her paternal grandparents.[2] She learned to speak Romanes, Armenian, and Russian.[4] At age 15, she and her family emigrated to the United States, settling in Las Vegas.[5] Marafioti learned English by reading the dictionary, watching television, and reading old romance novels.[6]
Career
Marafioti holds a BA in Film and an MFA in Creative Writing. She is also a classically trained pianist and has studied music, film, and literature in both the United States and Europe.[7]
Her works have appeared in Slate,[8] Time,[9] Immigrant Voices Vol.II (Penguin Random House, 2015), The Los Angeles Times, The Rumpus, and numerous anthologies, and has been featured on NPR, C‑SPAN, and various international media outlets. In addition to her memoir, Marafioti has published an urban fantasy novel, Donatti's Lunatics, under the pen name Ana Mara.[10]
Along with many interviews and panel appearances, Oksana has presented her research on Magical Realism In Soviet Russia at the Library of Congress in 2013[11] and participated in the C-SPAN panel discussion on race and ethnicity in 2015.[12]
In addition to her writing, Marafioti is a frequent speaker on topics related to creative writing, minority representation, and inclusive storytelling.[13]
Awards and fellowships
She was the recipient of the Library of Congress Kluge Fellowship in 2012–2013 and has presented her research at institutions including the Library of Congress, Columbia University, Harvard University, and Central European University. In 2020, she was awarded the Picador Guest Professorship in Literature and American Studies at the University of Leipzig in Germany.[14] She has received additional fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Nevada Arts Council.
Personal life
Marafioti has two sons.[10]
References
- ↑ "Marafioti, Oksana". kher.cz. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
- 1 2 Marafioti, Oksana (2013-01-12). "Ukrainian Teen's Gypsy Lifestyle Stigmatized". Women's eNews. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
- ↑ "Literary Las Vegas: Oksana Marafioti". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
- ↑ Gálová, Adéla (2017-04-02). "Oksana Marafioti: Writing is a constant discovery for me". Romea.cz (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-08-07.
- ↑ Marafioti, Oksana (2012-07-01). "American cheese: An excerpt from Oksana Marafioti's "American Gypsy: A memoir"". Nevada Public Radio. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
- ↑ "'American Gypsy': A Road From Siberia To Hollywood". NPR. 2012-08-16. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
- ↑ Peterson, Kristen (July 11, 2012), "Growing up Gypsy: 'They see you as a thief and a fortune-teller'", Las Vegas Weekly, retrieved August 12, 2012
- ↑ "Why TLC's My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding Doesn't Represent the Romani". Slate. May 15, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- ↑ "Roma Writer: Actually, Stealing Children Isn't Our Favorite Pastime". Time. October 23, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- 1 2 Keene, Jarret (2018-06-26). "Books: Going Dark". Nevada Public Radio. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
- ↑ "Magical Realism in Russia: How Ancestry Worship, Shamanism & Christianity Shaped the Nation". Library of Congress. May 16, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- ↑ "Panel Discussion on Race and Ethnicity". C-SPAN. October 17, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- ↑ "Oksana Marafioti". Nevada Arts Council. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
- ↑ "Picador Guest Professorship". Picador. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
Further reading
- Tyrkus, Michael J. (2014). Contemporary authors. Volume 344 : a bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields. Detroit: Gale. ISBN 9781414497334. OCLC 864717039.
- Hutner, Gordon (2015). Immigrant voices: Volume III. New York: New American Library. ISBN 9780698182721. OCLC 910879877.
- Sambuchino, Chuck (2012-07-10). "How I Got My Agent: Oksana Marafioti". Writer's Digest. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
- Patchett, Emma (January 2013). "'Corpus cartography': diasporic identity as flesh and blood". Academia.
- "Romani Realities in the United States:Breaking the Silence, Challenging the Stereotypes". FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University.
- Wiedlack, Katharina (2026-03-01). ""Immigrant Punk": Gogol Bordello, Oksana Marafioti, and the Post-Soviet Romani Experience". Twentieth-Century Literature. 72 (1): 97–122. doi:10.1215/0041462X-12351896. ISSN 0041-462X.
External links
- 1974 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American memoirists
- 21st-century American novelists
- 21st-century American women novelists
- 21st-century American women writers
- American fantasy writers
- American Romani people
- American writers of Armenian descent
- American people of Greek descent
- American people of Romani descent
- American people of Ukrainian descent
- Soviet emigrants to the United States
- People from Henderson, Nevada
- Romani women writers
- Romani writers
- Ukrainian emigrants to the United States
- Ukrainian Romani people
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni
- Urban fantasy writers