Svetlana Kulagina

Thank you for taking a couple of minutes to read about me and my marvelous team!

My name is Svetlana Kulagina, I am an illustrator and translator from Russia. I am a part of a wonderful collaboration of authors and enthusiasts: Alan Yagodin, Anastasiya Fedchenko and Chad Michael Zimmerman. We publish wonderful books that explore woodlands and moonlight to the creatures, spirits, mysticism and wisdom of ethnic fables.

I began my journey as an artist in middle school, continuing it for many years until I finished my architectural degree. Now, having decided to tribute my life to art, I began digital drawing to become a concept artist which ended with me discovering the world of book illustration! I was so inspired by some of the artists of the 20th century, such as Alfons Mucha and Ivan Bilibin, that even today I work on illustrations that feature fairytale characters, surreal storytelling and magic realism. Also, my interests and passions meet in motion graphics, animation and promotional illustrations for musicians and the film industry, alike. I currently work as an English - Russian translator as well.

Our team "Marvellous Miracles and Somber Stories" have translated a series of fairy tales by the great Russian folklorist Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev from Russian into English, preserving not only the atmosphere, but also the play on words and the rhythm of the original narratives. That's how a wonderful group of Russian and American authors have appeared and kept working together.

Amongst our publishing works you will find a number of stories such as:

The anthology series "Marvelous Miracles and Somber Stories: The Wonderful World of A. Afanasiev" by Alan Yagodin and Anastasya Fedchenko and Chad Michael Zimmerman, in which the daily life of simple Slavic people can be easily observed. Their housekeeping culture, their moral concepts and their cunning minds are inclined to irony and simple-minded craftiness;

"The Princess and the Pechka" by C. M. Zimmerman is, in true representation of oral tradition, a story of a lonely child lost in the deep Slavic woods among the trees and snow; the eternal blizzard and cold. The journey follows the lost girl as she takes to the edge of the winter world attempting to find her way to kind, unfading values;

"Learn Japanese With Yokai!" by Svetlana Kulagina is a unique activity book for Japanese language’s learners which is illustrated with pictures of classical Japanese folk stories and spirits.

We wish you to enjoy our dark stories and amazing miracles. See you on the pages of our books!