Olga Maslova is a Ukrainian-American writer and theater designer, born and raised in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and a Fulbright Scholar. Her poetry has appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, New Ohio Review, New American Writing, Plume Poetry, Frontier Poetry (second place, 2023 Ekphrastic Poetry Prize), Rhino Poetry, Strange Horizons, and elsewhere. She is the author of several librettos in collaboration with composer Ilya Demutsky, and has designed costumes for operas and theatre across the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. Maslova is currently an associate professor of costume design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2025, Maslova won the Emily Dickinson Award from LitMag for her poem The Soul Is Not Receiving Visitors.
During her time at MacDowell, Maslova edited and finalized her debut poetry collection for publication, wrote three new poems—When the World Was Naked, Serviam, and Egg Equinox—and finished the short play Shadow Chase.
