Sarah Gear is currently working on a PhD at Exeter University. Her topic is the translation of contemporary Russian literature into English. She is particularly interested in the differences between the commissioning, translation and reception of novels written by liberal writers and those with nationalist views and the extent to which politics affects the commissioning of new translations. Sarah holds an MA in Translation Studies from the University of Stirling (2019), and a BA (Hons) in French and Russian from the University of Glasgow (2001). She recently wrote her dissertation on the translation of idiolect and place in Savva’s Days, a novel published in 2018 by Grigori Sluzhitel. Sarah has spent time living in Russia, Spain and France, and in the past she has worked as a bookseller, a researcher for Rough Guide travel guides, freelance travel writer, piano teacher, and also as a Tour Director directing tours for American school parties around the UK, France and Spain.