Serhij Zhadan (Сергій Жадан) was born on August 23, 1974 in Starobilsk in the industrial region of Luhansk. Together with his parents Zhadan later moves to Kharkiv, where he studied German Language and Literature at the Pedagogical University. He wrote his PhD about the Ukrainian futurism.

Since 1991 Zhadan is regarded to be one of the most influential figures of the poetry scene of Charkiv. Today he is considered as the virtuous enfant terrible of contemporary Ukrainian literature.

Zhadan started writing while still studying. His first works were poems, however, he later started writing prose as well. In 1995 he debuted with a collection of poems, called Zytatnyk. Many other publications have followed since. Zhadan also works as a translator.

Serhij Zhadan still lives and works in Kharkiv.