Olga Zilberbourg is a Russian-American author whose debut English-language collection, Like Water and Other Stories, has garnered critical acclaim for its masterful blend of immigrant experience and universal human themes. Critics praise Zilberbourg’s ability to make “the familiar strange, the exotic familiar,” creating stories that are simultaneously rooted in Russian immigrant culture and deeply relevant to contemporary American life. Her work is noted for being “darkly funny,” “moving,” and “memorable and piercing as fairy tales.”
Zilberbourg’s writing has appeared in Narrative Magazine, World Literature Today, Electric Literature, Lit Hub, Chicago Quarterly Review, Confrontation, and elsewhere. Born in Leningrad, USSR, in a Russian-speaking Jewish family, she has published four books of fiction in Russian. She lives in California where she co-facilitates the San Francisco Writers Workshop and, together with Yelena Furman, runs Punctured Lines, a feminist blog about literatures from the former USSR. She is at work on her first novel.
Eileen Hoang will read “Doctor Sveta,” by Olga Zilberbourg. Eileen began acting with a foundation in theatre through Ed Claudio and the Actor’s Workshop of Sacramento and has since expanded her repertoire into film acting as well as producing and directing film. She has had the opportunity to perform in numerous productions in the Sacramento region, such as Men on Boats (Big Idea Theatre), Snow Falling on Cedars (Nevada Theatre), Macbeth (Three Penny Theatre), Twelfth Night (California Stage) and All My Sons (The Stage at Burke Junction). This Spring, she will be returning to Nevada Theatre in a production of Rashōmon. Eileen is excited to make her first appearance here at Stories on Stage Davis!
Shirley Chan is writing a memoir about growing up in a Chinese restaurant. She is the senior nonfiction editor for the ASP Bulletin and co-founder of the Oakland reading series Secret Nook (@secret.nook on Instagram). Shirley is the recipient of a Rooted & Written fellowship and is an alum of Tin House Summer Workshop, Manuscript Boot Camp, and Writing by Writers Tomales Bay. Her work has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Racket, Waxwing, HAD, Longleaf Review, Paranoid Tree, Roi Fainéant, and other publications. When the words part of her brain needs a break, Shirley creates mixed media art. Learn more at irleywrites.com.
Mayette McDonald will read “Her Story, My Story, History,” by Shirley Chan. Mayette is a local Filipina-American actor and voiceover artist. She holds a BA in Theatre from California State University, Sacramento. Previous credits include Eureka Day (Capital Stage), Potus: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive (Big Idea Theatre), After The Blast(Big Idea Theatre), Gloria (Capital Stage), The Intelligent Design Of Jenny Chow (B Street Theatre), and several seasons of B Street Theatre’s School Tour throughout Northern California and the Bay Area. She has won several acting awards from the Sacramento Film and Music Festival.