Olga Grjasnowa, born 1984 in Baku, Azerbaijan, has so far published four novels and one non-fiction book on multilingualism. For her highly acclaimed debut novel Der Russe ist einer, der Birken liebt (All Russians Love Birch Trees) (2012), she was awarded the Klaus-Michael Kühne Prize and Anna Seghers Prize. This book was followed in 2014 by Die juristische Unschärfe einer Ehe (The Legal Haziness of a Marriage) and in 2017 by Gott ist nicht schüchtern (God Is Not Shy). Most recently she published the novel Der verlorene Sohn (The Prodigal Son) (2020) and Die Macht der Mehrsprachigkeit. Über Herkunft und Vielfalt (The Power of Multilingualism. On Origins and Diversity) (2021). Her works have been translated into 15 languages, adopted for the stage and the radio, received numerous awards, and made into films.
 
Olga Grjasnowa was a resident at Tarabya Cultural Academy from June to December 2016.