When her father had completed his military service, the family moved to Belarus, where both of her parents worked as teachers. After finishing school, Alexievich worked as a teacher and as a reporter, and studied journalism at the University of Minsk in 1967-1972. She currently resides in Minsk, where she returned after living in Europe to work on her new book.
По словам писательницы, европейского в её биографии и в биографии её книг значительно больше, нежели русского или белорусского.