Michael Romm

My Short Writer’s Bio

I was born in Moscow, the capital city of the late Soviet Union, in 1968. My writing experience began in July, 1976, with the very first poem (about the war). Since then, I have been making poetry throughout my life. In the later years, I started to cook short prose as well. Finally, I exercise in translating, mostly, though not limited to, from English to Russian.

After graduating from the Moscow Railway Engineering Institute in Applied Mathematics in 1992, on November 3rd, I emigrated to the USA together with my first wife Victoria. In 2006, I met my second wife Ella who is also an author and, sometimes, my co-author. I have one son Eden from the first marriage and two step-daughter’s, Viktoriya and Nicole; they are all adults now. Our first grandchild, Vienna, was born in 2025.

My writing is 99% in Russian, and only on a few occasions I practice in the English prose and even verse. My genre is variable, from all sorts of lyrics to ballads and “short stories” in verse to long poems to sonnets and even a couple of crowns of sonnets.

Beginning in 2001, I published a number of poetry books, with occasional additions of short prose. I also had relationships with some boutique publishing houses based in Moscow and periodicals, though never spent enough energy on promoting my work. In 2005-2007, together with Boris Stein (lives in Los Angeles), we compiled and published a book of 60 Russian Poets from the USA and Canada. That book was presented in New York and, by the late Rimma Kazakova, in Moscow in 2007. Additionally, I authored a couple of poetry and prose books together with my wife Ella Romm and a book of poetry with my uncle Vladimir Romm (1937–2021) who was a poet.

The writing experience brings me challenge and pleasure. It helps to think more clearly. My best hope is that, one day, the younger generations of my family will find some of my writing informative, interesting, inspiring.

July 4th, 2025