Genis Alekxander Alexandrovich (b. 1953, Riga) – Publicist, literary critic.

Alexander Genis graduated from the Faculty of Philology at the University of Latvia. Began publishing in 1975. In 1977 moved to the United States. Contributed to newspapers and magazines such as Novoe Russkoe Slovo, Novyi Amerikanets, Sem Dnei, among others. Numerous essays by Genis (most co-authored with P. Vail) appeared in various émigré publications, including Kontinent, Vremya i My, Grani, and others.

In the mid-1980s, Alexander Genis started working at Radio Liberty (Radio Svoboda). He is the author of numerous books (mostly co-written with P. Vail), published in the United States in Russian. Many of these were reprinted in Russia after 1989. In a number of works, he addresses Jewish themes, interpreting them as socio-psychological and historical-cultural phenomena.

Selected works:

Contemporary Russian Prose / co-authored with P. Vail. Ann Arbor, 1982;

Paradise Lost. Emigration: An Attempt at a Self-Portrait / co-authored with P. Vail. Moscow – Jerusalem, 1983;

The 60s. The World of the Soviet Person / co-authored with P. Vail. Ann Arbor, 1988;

Mother Tongue / co-authored with P. Vail. New York, 1990.