Mariya Manzhos
I'm a journalist in Boston and a features writer for Deseret. My writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Post Magazine, Slate, Deseret, The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, Columbia Journalism Review, Poynter, Business Insider, and a number of New England weeklies.
In my stories, I'm interested in exploring the complexities of human experience and what lies below the surface of our communities, relationships, and Instagram accounts. A native of Kyiv, Ukraine, I'm fascinated by how we find a sense of belonging in the world.
I’m also a co-founder of Kleio, a storytelling service that helps individuals and families tell and capture their life stories.
Before joining Deseret, I covered Boston suburbs for Gannett/USA Today Network. I wrote about everything from education, development and affordable housing to a scandal at the local Catholic parish and the arrest of a Brazilian YouTuber. Many of my stories focused on the impact of state-wide problems such as vaping, teen stress and anxiety, and lack of state funding for public schools on small New England towns.
My coverage of the scandal around the firing of a beloved youth minister from St. Mary’s parish in Winchester, Massachusetts won 2nd place in religion reporting category at the New England Newspaper Association (NENPA).
My 2021 essay on becoming a U.S. citizen was listed as a notable essay in the Best American Essays 2022 anthology.
While getting my master’s in journalism at Boston University, I worked with best-selling author Mitchell Zuckoff on researching the stories of 9/11 victims and survivors for his book Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11.
I speak Ukrainian, Russian, and French. I currently live in Somerville, MA with my husband and three children.
- Somerville, MA, USA
- mariyamanzhos
Publications
- Deseret News8 articles
Writes Most On
Is America ready for millennials to be in charge?17 Jan—Deseret NewsMariya is a staff writer based in Boston. She writes profiles of interesting people and stories at the intersection of religion and culture. The generation known for its obsession with avocado toast and selfies is approaching midlife — and power. The eldest of the millennials, a generation born between 1981 and 1996, are now in their early 40s, and some are challenging the stereotypes that have long defined them. The generation that came of age during the rise of the internet, weathered the...
The biggest challenges parents faced in 2024 — and how to navigate them in the new year2 Jan—Deseret NewsMariya is a staff writer based in Boston. She writes profiles of interesting people and stories at the intersection of religion and culture. In August, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a landmark advisory on parental mental well-being. The report highlighted unprecedented levels of stress among parents and caregivers, driven by work-life imbalances, societal pressures and economic uncertainties. This advisory sparked a national conversation about the need for systemic change and...
Georgia mother’s arrest renews debate about parenting norms25 Nov 2024—Deseret NewsMariya is a staff writer based in Boston. She writes profiles of interesting people and stories at the intersection of religion and culture. Last month, a mom in Georgia was at a doctor’s appointment with her oldest son when she received a phone call from the police. Brittany Patterson was told that her 10-year-old son, Soren, had walked to the Dollar General store located in Mineral Bluff, a town less than a mile away from the family’s home. A passer-by noticed the boy walking alone, stopped...
What is ‘lighthouse parenting’? Meet the man who coined the term12 Oct 2024—Deseret NewsMariya Manzhos is a national writer for the Deseret News based in Boston, Mass. She focuses on culture and the complexities of the human experience. Keeping up with the latest parenting trends can feel like an impossible juggling act these days — think helicopter parenting, tiger moms and free-range kids. Each method holds the promise of the ultimate parental triumph: resilient, confident and respectful children who turn into successful adults. But here’s the thing about parental trends: They...
A church hosted a ‘digital detox’ hangout, and other device-free experiences are on the rise3 Jun 2024—Deseret NewsMariya Manzhos is a national writer for the Deseret News based in Boston, Mass. She focuses on culture and the complexities of the human experience. More than 200 people recently filled a church in central Amsterdam, but they weren’t there to attend a religious service. They flocked to the spacious 400-year-old Protestant church to seek a reprieve from the digital world. Sitting on colorful pillows on the church’s stone floor, under golden chandeliers and a vaulted ceiling, the participants...
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Journalist Fellow at University of Southern California, Center for Religion and Civic Culture
