Maria Galina (Russian: Мария Галина) is one of the most interesting authors among those who made their names in the turbulent 1990s. She writes both literary and science fiction (with ten SF books to her credit). She is also a noted poet, a thoughtful critic, and translator of English and American science fiction, in all of which she excels. She is a winner of many important prizes for her prose and poetry and her critical essays. A graduate from Odessa University majoring in sea biology she took part in several sea expeditions but in 1995 she gave up biology and took up writing professionally. Apart from numerous Russian publications she has three books published in Poland and her work has been included in various anthologies of Russian writing abroad (Russian Women Poets: Modern Poetry in Translation, UCL, London, 2002; and Amerika. Russian Writers View the United States, Dalkey Archive Press). Her literary fiction contains a strong element of magic realism while gender issues have always been the focus of her attention. As a poet she was awarded by some of the most prestigious Russian poetry awards - The Moscow Count (for the best poetry book published in Moscow) and Anthology (for the highest achievements in the modern Russian Poetry)