Write Now with Scrivener Episode 55: Maria Reva, Booker Longlisted Author of Endling
Oct 1, 2025
Maria Reva, a Ukrainian-Canadian author celebrated for her longlisted novel Endling, discusses her unique blend of absurdist fiction and wartime themes. She shares how her family's immigration shaped her narrative and the significance of 'endling'—both scientifically and emotionally. Maria explains the role of snails in her story and how the Ukraine invasion influenced her manuscript. With insights on dark humor and metafictional techniques, she reveals her creative process, including Scrivener's invaluable features for navigating complex character arcs.
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Childhood Move To Vancouver
- Maria Reva immigrated from Ukraine to Canada at age seven and settled in Vancouver because her father liked its mountains and beaches.
- She describes Vancouver as beautiful but unaffordable, a city she loves and has a love-hate relationship with.
Meaning Of Endling
- 'Endling' means the last surviving member of a species and describes both biological extinction and cultural loss.
- Maria Reva connects the term to emotional 'endling ache' for the last speaker or memory-holder of a lineage.
Romance Tours As Heist Premise
- Maria was writing about romance tours in Ukraine and created a kidnapping-heist plot to expose the exploitative marriage-agency industry.
- She conceived 13 foreign men kidnapped by three women determined to bring the industry down.
