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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * Maria Nikolaeva (born 1971), spiritual teacher, religious writer, widely translated

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 (born 1950), 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
 * Olga Slavnikova (born 1957), novelist, critic, author of 2017: A Novel
 * Esphyr Slobodkina (1908–2002), Russian-American children's writer, illustrator, author of Caps for Sale
 * Alexandra Smirnova (1809–1882), memoirist
 * Sofia Soboleva (1840–1884), short story writer, children's writer, journalist
 * Polyxena Solovyova (1867–1924), Russian poet and translator
 * Sabina Spielrein (1885–1942), psychoanalyst, scientific writer
 * Anna Strunsky (1877–1964), Russian-American journalist, novelist, socialist activist, co-authored The Kempton-Wace Letters
 * Polina Suslova (1839–1918), short story writer
 * Alexandra Sviridova (born 1951), screenwriter, television presenter, now living in New York

T

 * Yelizaveta Tarakhovskaya (1891–1968), poet, playwright, translator, children's writer
 * Nadezhda Teffi (1872–1952), playwright, short story writer
 * Fatima Tlisova (born 1966), journalist, now living in the United States
 * Viktoriya Tokareva (born 1937), screenwriter, short story writer
 * Natalia Tolstaya (1943–2010), educator, translator, text book writer, writing in Swedish and Russian
 * Sophia Tolstaya (1844–1919), wife of Leo Tolstoy, diarist, memoirist
 * Tatyana Tolstaya (born 1951), novelist, essayist, television presenter
 * Elsa Triolet (1896–1970), novelist, wrote in Russian and (mainly) French
 * Marina Tsvetaeva (1892–1941), poet, playwright
 * Evgenia Tur (1815–1892), novelist, literary critic, children's writer

U

 * Anya Ulinich (born 1973), novelist, short story writer
 * Lyudmila Ulitskaya (born 1943), novelist, short story writer

V

 * Larisa Vaneeva (born 1953), short story writer
 * Galina Varlamova (1951–2019), Evenk philologist, works in Russian, Evenk and Yakut
 * Svetlana Vasilenko (born 1956), short story writer, novelist
 * Marie Vassiltchikov (1917–1978), wartime Berlin diarist
 * Tatiana Vedenska (born 1976), novelist
 * Anastasiya Verbitskaya (1861–1928), novelist, playwright, screenwriter, publisher, feminist
 * Seda Vermisheva (1932–2020), Armenian-born Russian poet, economist, activist
 * Lidia Veselitskaya (1857–1936), novelist, short story writer, memoirist, translator
 * Frida Vigdorova (1915–1965), journalist, novelist
 * Mariya Vilinska (1833–1907), novelist, short story writer, translator
 * Zinaida Volkonskaya (1792–1862), poet, short story writer, playwright, salonist
 * Hava Volovich (1916–2000), memoirist, actress, Gulag survivor
 * Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova (1743–1810), memoirist
 * Anna Vyrubova (1884–1964), memoirist

Y

 * Tatyana Yesenina (1918–1992), novelist, journalist, memoirist
 * Anna Yevreinova (1844–1919), feminist writer, editor, letter writer, lawyer

Z

 * Lyubov Zakharchenko (1961–2008), poet, songwriter
 * Yulia Zhadovskaya (1824–1883), poet, novelist
 * Vera Zhelikhovskaya (1835–1896), children's writer, novelist
 * Polina Zherebtsova (born 1985), poet, diarist, author of Ant in a Glass Jar
 * Maria Zhukova (1805–1855), novelist, short story writer, travel writer
 * Valentina Zhuravleva (1933–2004), science fiction novelist, sometimes in collaboration with her husband Genrich Altshuller
 * Lydia Zinovieva-Annibal (1866–1907), novelist, playwright
 * Vera Zvyagintseva (1894–1972), actress, poet, translator, memoirist