‘Graphomania is a writer’s first and indispensable prerequisite’

Abstract

The interview of E. Konstantinova with the prose and script writer and social activist L. Ulitskaya mainly focuses on the latter’s books, their origins and unique features and principles. In particular, Konstantinova brings up the fate of screen adaptations of Ulitskaya’s works, including the scripts for the episode A Hundred Buttons [Sto pugovits] in the almanac A Joyful Roundabout [Vesyolaya karusel] (1983) and for the cartoons The Toys’ Secret [Tayna igrushek] (1986) and A Lazy Dress [Lenivoe platie] (1987), which became a sort of springboard for her career in grown-up literature. Also mentioned are films: This Queen of Spades [Eta pikovaya dama] (2003), The Kukotsky Case [Kazus Kukotskogo] (2005), and others. As the interview was conducted remotely due to the pandemic, it also discusses the ways in which the novel coronavirus may change the world (if at all). Ulitskaya also shares her opinion on what a writer should do in these changing times.