Svetlana Satchkova: On Resisting Injustice
In this interview, author Svetlana Satchkova discusses moving to the U.S. from Russia, her writing becoming political, and her new novel, The Undead.
Svetlana Satchkova is a Russian-born journalist and writer who immigrated to the United States in 2016. She covers culture and politics, with bylines in the Rumpus, Newsweek, LARB, the Independent, and others. Currently a research fellow at the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia at NYU, she holds an MFA from Brooklyn College and lives in Brooklyn. She has published three novels in her native Russian. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
In this interview, author Svetlana Satchkova discusses moving to the U.S. from Russia, her writing becoming political, and her new novel, The Undead.
Name: Svetlana Satchkova
Book title: The Undead: A Novel of Modern Russia
Publisher: Melville House
Release date: January 13, 2026
Genre/category: literary fiction
Elevator pitch: In present-day Russia, a young filmmaker is struggling to finish her debut feature—a zombie movie. Throughout her life, she’s ignored politics, thinking that lying low would keep her safe. But when a random act of political violence targets her after a denunciation, everything changes.
What prompted you to write this book?
Until 2016, I lived in Russia, where I had a wide circle of friends, a successful career in magazines, and was a published author. But I had to move to the U.S. when Putin’s growing authoritarianism made life there impossible for me as both a writer and a person. Many of those around me were genuinely surprised by my decision. To them, life looked wonderful: We traveled the world, and Moscow dazzled with its restaurants, culture, and nightlife. What more could I possibly want?
What I couldn’t grasp was how they failed—or chose not—to see the escalating repression of free speech, the brazen theft by those in power, the imprisonment or murder of anyone who dared to resist. Did none of this matter, so long as they kept their cushy jobs and their glamorous lives?
My own life was upended. I lost everything and had to start over in the U.S. Naturally, my writing turned political. I wanted to explore how authoritarianism works, and what it does to the individual trapped within it. What interested me the most was the ordinary, decent people who choose silence—who decide not to stir the waters, hoping that if they keep their heads down, they’ll be left alone. I used to be one of them. I lived in constant fear and shame, until it became unbearable.
My protagonist, Maya, follows a different path. She stays. And she becomes a target. Because under a regime like Putin’s, no one is ever safe. Anyone can be next.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
It took two years in total, which I know was pure luck. In the past, I had published three novels in my native Russian, and each of them took years to write—one of them more than a decade. By contrast, The Undead almost wrote itself in about a year. The process felt straightforward, especially since much of the story was drawn from real-life events and most of the characters were based on real people.
I was just about to begin querying agents—I hadn’t even started a query letter—when I met my editor, Mike, at a party. He asked to read the manuscript, and two weeks later he offered me a contract. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. Usually, anything I achieved came only through long, relentless hard work. This time it was simply being in the right place at the right time, and I’m deeply grateful for it.
Mike is also the best editor I could ever hope for. He understands me completely, even though we come from such different worlds. He never pushes, and he listens to everything I have to say.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
This is my first book in English, which is my second language, so I expected a lot of line editing. But to my surprise, there was very little. Most of the edits were about cutting sentences that weren’t needed. In my first draft, I often overexplained my protagonist’s emotions or reasoning—since she is Russian, I wanted to make sure American readers understood her. But the notes kept reminding me it was already clear from the context. So many things are universal: anxious, controlling mothers who try to shame you into doing things; obnoxious older sisters; or ex-lovers who turn into stalkers.
On the other hand, I did get a few notes from Mike that simply said, “Too implausible?” In those cases, I felt I had to leave comments with links, because what seemed improbable to him I had taken straight from real life. Even the story about the dog. (No spoilers—you’ll have to read the book to find out.) That’s Russia for you.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I had a lot of fun writing it. From the description, you might think it’s a very serious, maybe even tedious, book, but I promise it’s not. My editor once summed it up as “Moscow hipsters making a movie and having sex.” That covers at least the first part. It was wonderful to dive back into that atmosphere while writing. Through my work, I’ve been on countless film sets, and a few times even acted in films myself. I got to experience that unique, intense intimacy that develops among people working on a movie, and I understood why so many become addicted to filmmaking, no matter what role they play. Writing the novel let me relive it all.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
The story is very particular to Russia, yet at the same time it’s universal. It’s also very much about Moscow, the incredible city I once loved with a vehemence that even frightened me. I hope readers will get to experience that city through my novel. I may never be able to return there, certainly not while Putin remains in power. Under today’s laws, what I’ve written against his regime and the war in Ukraine could be punished with many years in prison. I also hope readers come away with the feeling that individual choices matter, even if each of us must decide for ourselves how far we can go in resisting injustice. I dedicated the novel to all Russian political prisoners, past and present, and especially to Alexey Navalny, who was tortured for three years in prison and died the death of a martyr. I’m grateful that I can speak my mind now, but I’ll never be like him—I’m not a hero. All I can do is express my deep admiration for him and for people like him.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
This may sound trite, but it’s true: Keep writing and putting yourself out there. The Undead is actually the second novel I wrote in English. The first was a much longer, more complex book that took me several years to finish. After that, I spent a year querying agents. I received many encouraging replies—some said it was very interesting, and a few even admitted they almost offered representation. But in the end, they all passed, saying the novel was too strange and they didn’t know how to market it. It was heartbreaking, but I didn’t stop. I simply started writing a new novel.
