Tumarkin was born and raised in Kharkov, then part of the Soviet Union, now in Ukraine.
[2] She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a PhD in cultural history from the University of Melbourne.
[3] Her PhD was titled "Secret Life of Wounded Spaces: Traumascapes in the contemporary Australia".
[5] She was an Honorary Artistic Outreach Associate (2015–2016) at the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions and a co-creator, with Moya McFadzean, of "The Unending Absence" project.
[3] As of 2021[update] Tumarkin taught creative writing at the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.