Lyudmila Ulitskaya

{{Short description|Russian author (born 1943)}}{{Family name hatnote|Evgenyevna|Ulitskaya|lang=Eastern Slavic}}{{Infobox writer

| image = Lyudmila Ulitskaya 2023 (cropped).jpg

| imagesize = 200px

| caption = In 2023

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|2|21}}

| birth_place = Davlekanovo, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

| genre = Fiction, script writing

| movement = Aestheticism

| spouse = Andrej Krasulin

| website = {{URL|elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya}}

| notableworks = Sonechka
"The Big Green Tent"
"Jacob's Ladder"
The Funeral Party
Medea and Her Children
Daniel Stein, Interpreter

“Just the Plague”

| alma_mater = Moscow State University

}}

Lyudmila Evgenyevna Ulitskaya ({{langx|ru|link=no|Людмила Евгеньевна Улицкая}}, born February 21, 1943) is an internationally acclaimed modern Russian novelist and short-story writer who, in 2014, was awarded the prestigious Austrian State Prize for European Literature for her oeuvre. In 2006 she published Daniel Stein, Interpreter (Даниэль Штайн, переводчик), a novel dealing with the Holocaust and the need for reconciliation between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. She won the 2012 Park Kyong-ni Prize.

Biography

Ulitskaya was born in the town of Davlekanovo in Bashkiria but her family moved to Moscow when she was nine months old.{{Cite web|title=Arbeit an Europa|url=https://arbeitaneuropa.com/interviews/ludmila-ulitskaya/|access-date=2021-08-25|language=de-DE}} In Moscow, her family lived in communal apartments with many other families. After childhood, she received a degree in genetics from the Moscow State University.{{Cite web|last=ReadRussia|title=Ludmila Ulitskaya|url=https://readrussia.org/writers/writer/ludmila-ulitskaya|access-date=2021-08-25|website=Read Russia|language=en}} After university, she worked for two years at the Institute of General Genetics, before she was fired in 1970 for reading and distributing samizdat literature. After this, she didn't work for about nine years. In this time she was married and then had two kids. Then Ulitskaya began her literary career by joining the Jewish drama theatre as a literary consultant in 1979. She became the Repertory Director of the Hebrew Theatre of Moscow.{{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Ludmila Ulitskaya|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya|access-date=2021-08-25|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}} Her first published short fiction appeared in 1990. The story of her acclaimed novel Sonechka was first published in Novy Mir in 1992.{{Cite web|title=Vica Miller on Ludmila Ulitskaya – Asymptote|url=https://www.asymptotejournal.com/special-feature/vica-miller-on-ludmila-ulitskaya/|access-date=2021-08-25|website=www.asymptotejournal.com|language=en}} In 1993, she published her first novel with Gallimard in France. Her first novel in Russian was published in 1994. Until 2022, Ulitskaya divided her time between Moscow and Israel.Andrey Kurkov in: [http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/ukraine-das-kann-ein-bisschen-mehr-anarchie-mitbringen.1184.de.html?dram:article_id=307281 "Das kann ein bisschen mehr Anarchie mitbringen". Ukraine im Gespräch, part 4: Andrej Kurkow im Gespräch mit Katja Petrowskaja], Essay und Diskurs, Deutschlandfunk, 28 December 2014, German Since 2022, Ulitskaya resides in Berlin, Germany.

= Personal life =

File:Красулин Андрей Николаевич.png

Ulitskaya's parents were both involved in science; her mother was a biochemist and her father was an engineer. She was engaged to an American man who died in a car accident before they were married. Throughout her life, she has learned German, French, and English, but has said herself that she doesn't know any of them well. She has mentioned that she tends to work in Italy, at an apartment she owns, but she lived in Moscow until 2022.

Lyudmila Ulitskaya was married three times. First husband Yuri Taits. Second husband Mikhail Evgeniev (geneticist, Doctor of Biological Sciences).{{Cite web |date=2019-10-09 |title=Писательница Людмила Улицкая. Досье |url=https://aif.ru/culture/person/pisatelnica_lyudmila_ulickaya_dose |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=AiF |language=ru}} They have two sons Aleksey (born 1972; businessman) and Pyotr (born 1975; a jazz musician), one of whom graduated from Columbia University. For 2024 she is married to the sculptor Andrey Krasulin.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-01 |title=Людмила Улицкая: творчество и политические взгляды |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6481034 |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=Коммерсантъ |language=ru}}

Fiction

=Style=

In her fiction, Ulitskaya seemingly describes and observes her characters at an equal distance from each one. Rather than going in for character development or delving into the tortured workings of her characters’ psyches otherwise perceived as the hallmark of Russian writing, Ulitskaya favors capsule descriptions, though she acknowledges that her characters are tortured. Generally speaking, she makes little use of dialogue. Masha Gessen, in her tribute article in The New Yorker in October 2014, finds that Ulitskaya's writing makes for compelling, addictive reading. Gessen reports that she was driven entirely by the desire to learn what happens next.Masha Gessen, [http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/weight-words The Weight of Words. One of Russia’s most famous writers confronts the state], in: The New Yorker, 6 October 2014

=Themes=

Among her interlinked themes are: the need for religious and racial tolerance; the problem of the intelligentsia in Soviet culture; how women shape new gender roles in society; and everyday life as a literary subject.

Other activity

File:Moscow rally 4 February 2012, Yakimanka Street, Bolotnaya Square 9.JPG in Moscow in February 2012]]

Ulitskaya authored two movie scripts produced in the early 1990s: The Liberty Sisters (Сестрички Либерти, 1990) and A Woman for All (Женщина для всех, 1991). She regularly publishes commentary on social issues and is actively involved in philanthropic projects increasing access to literature. In March 2014 Ulitskaya was among the key speakers at the Moscow Anti-War demonstration.

Reception

Ulitskaya's first novella, Sonechka (Сонечка, 1992), and her second, Medea and Her Children (Медея и ее дети, 1996) became extremely popular, and both were shortlisted for the Russian Booker Award, in 1993 and 1997, respectively. She finally won the Russian Booker Prize in 2001 for The Kukotsky Enigma (Казус Кукоцкого, 2001), and was the first woman to receive the prize.{{Cite web|title=Liudmila Ulitskaia|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/ulitskaia-liudmila-e|access-date=2021-08-25|website=Jewish Women's Archive|language=en}} Her novel Daniel Stein, Interpreter (Даниэль Штайн, переводчик, 2006) was nominated for the Man Booker Prize. Her works have been translated into over 25 languages, including English, and have received several international and Russian literary awards. The English translation for The Big Green Tent (Зелёный шатёр, 2010) was long-listed for the Best Translated Book Award in Fiction in 2016.{{Cite web|title=The Big Green Tent {{!}} Ludmila Ulitskaya {{!}} Macmillan|url=https://us.macmillan.com/thebiggreentent/ludmilaulitskaya/9781250097446|access-date=2021-08-25|website=US Macmillan|language=en-US|archive-date=2017-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215005859/https://us.macmillan.com/thebiggreentent/ludmilaulitskaya/9781250097446|url-status=dead}} She has an average reader rating of 4.07 on Goodreads.{{Cite web|title=Lyudmila Ulitskaya|url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21215.Lyudmila_Ulitskaya|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.goodreads.com}}

Political involvement

Because Ulitskaya addresses both religion and politics in her work, she has moved to the forefront of the Russian political debate in recent decades. In 2011 and 2012, during the height of the anti-Putin protests in Russia, she became a board member for the [https://www.rferl.org/a/russian_celebrities_create_league_of_voters_to_battle_election_fraud/24455726.html League of Voters]. She was also considered a traitor by the administration and was the subject of negative statements in state-owned outlets, such as Isvestia. She is firmly anti-Putin; at a press conference for her book The Big Green Tent (Зелёный шатёр, 2010), she remarked that the country was becoming "Stalinized," something that gave her "a whiff of fear."

However, she is very against the idea of Moscow being a cultural part of Europe, unlike other anti-Putin dissidents such as Alexei Navalny.{{Cite news|last=Kramer|first=Andrew E.|date=2021-08-25|title=In First Interview From Jail, an Upbeat Navalny Discusses Prison Life|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/world/europe/navalny-jail-prison.html|access-date=2021-08-26|issn=0362-4331}}

While Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian billionaire jailed on fraud charges, was incarcerated, he and Ulitskaya wrote each other letters. Ulitskaya maintains that the charges against him were politically motivated and thus "absurd."{{Cite web|date=2011-04-16|title=Lyudmila Ulitskaya: why I'm not afraid of Vladimir Putin|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/17/lyudmila-ulitskaya-dissident-putin-interview|access-date=2021-08-27|website=The Guardian|language=en}} Their correspondence was published in a collection titled Mikhail Khodorkovsky: Articles, Dialogues, Interviews{{Cite news|title=Russian Literary Stars Launch Khodorkovsky Book In Moscow|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/khodorkovsky_book_launch_moscow_/2282572.html|access-date=2021-08-27|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=21 January 2011 |language=en|last1=O'Flynn |first1=Kevin }} along with contributions from other writers such as Boris Strugatsky and Boris Akunin.

On the second day of the Russian war against Ukraine in 2022, Novaya Gazeta published a statement by Ulitskaya, [https://www.raamoprusland.nl/dossiers/stemmen-uit-de-oorlog/2045-pain-fear-shame-this-is-what-i-feel-today Pain. Fear. Shame.],Novaya Gazeta had to delete the text from its website due to a new censorship law. However, it is still available, e.g., at the news portal of the Lithuanian public broadcaster LTR: [https://www.lrt.lt/ru/novosti/17/1626791/liudmila-ulitskaia-bol-strakh-styd Боль. Страх. Стыд.], 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-03-09. strongly condemning the war. She was also among the signatories of an appeal by eminent writers to all Russian speakers to spread the truth about the war inside Russia.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/05/eminent-writers-urge-russian-speakers-to-tell-truth-of-war-in-ukraine |title=Eminent writers urge Russian speakers to tell truth of war in Ukraine |website=The Guardian |date=5 March 2022 |access-date=9 March 2022 }} Since March 2022, she has been living in Berlin.{{cite web |url=https://www.dw.com/en/russian-author-ulitskaya-warns-of-terrible-consequences-of-war/a-61326678 |title=Russian author Ulitskaya warns of 'terrible' consequences of war |website=DW |date=1 April 2022 }}{{cite web

|author=Boutsko, A.

|language = ru

|url = https://www.dw.com/en/who-are-the-russians-leaving-their-country/a-61364390

|title =Who are the Russians leaving their country?

|publisher = Deutsche Welle

|date = 2022-05-04

|accessdate = 2022-11-13}}

Awards

File:Bookfest2 (crop).jpg]]

Penne Prize (1997, Italy)
Medici Prize (1998, France){{Cite web |title=Улицкая, Людмила Евгеньевна |url=https://tass.ru/encyclopedia/person/ulickaya-lyudmila-evgenevna |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=ТАСС}}
Giuseppe Acerbi Award :it:Premio Letterario Giuseppe Acerbi (1998, Italy) for her novel Sonechka
Penne Prize Winner (2000, Moscow) for Medea and Her Children{{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Medea and her Children, a novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya (1996)|url=https://elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/681-medea1996|access-date=2021-08-27|website=elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Chevalier of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques (2003, France)
Novel of the Year Prize (2004, Russia) for the novel Sincerely yours, Shurik
Best Writer of the Year Ivanushka Prize (2004, Russia)
Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2004, France)
National Order of the Legion of Honour (2004, 2014, France)
National Literature Prize (2005, China) for Sincerely yours, Shurik
Penne Prize (2006, Italy) for the novel The Kukotsky Enigma
National Olympia Prize of Russian Academy of Business (2007, Russia)
Big Book Award (2007, Russia) for the novel Daniel Stein, Interpreter
Father Alexander Men Award (2008, Germany-Russia)
2009 Man Booker International Prize nominee, along with 14 authors from 12 countries: Mario Vargas Llosa, E.L Doctorow and 2001 Nobel Prize winner V. S. Naipaul
Simone de Beauvoir Prize (2011, France)
Russian Booker Prize (2011, Russia) for the novel The Kukotsky Enigma
Pak Kyong-ni Prize (2012, South Korea)
Austrian State Prize for European Literature (2014, Austria)
Big Book Award, 3rd place (2016, Russia) for Yakov's Ladder{{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Yakov's Ladder, a novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2015)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/1836-yakovs-ladder|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Officer of the Legion of Honor{{cite web |last1=Beard |first1=Nadia |title=France honours novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya with Legion D’Honneur decoration |url=https://www.new-east-archive.org/articles/show/3413/france-honours-novelist-lyudmila-ulitskaya-with-legion-dhonneur-decoration |website=New East Digital Archive |access-date=8 October 2024}}
Siegfried Lenz Prize (2020){{cite news | title=Literaturpreis für Ljudmila Ulitzkaja | website=Der Tagesspiegel | date=15 June 2020 | url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/siegfried-lenz-preis-2020-literaturpreis-fuer-ljudmila-ulitzkaja/25917034.html | language=de | access-date=20 September 2021}}
Prix Formentor (2022)

Bibliography

= Novels =

Sonechka (Сонечка, 1995){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Sonechka, a novella by Ludmila Ulitskaya (1995)|url=https://elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/680-sonechka1995|access-date=2021-08-27|website=elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Medea and Her Children (Медея и её дети, 1996){{Cite book|last=Ulitskaya|first=Lyudmila|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49821380|title=Medea and her children|date=2002|others=A. L. Tait|isbn=0-8052-4196-5|location=New York|oclc=49821380}}
The Funeral Party (Весёлые похороны, 1997){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency - Funeral Party, a novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya (1997)|url=https://elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/682-funeralparty1997|access-date=2021-08-27|website=elkost.com|language=en-gb}}{{Cite book|last=Ulitskaya|first=Lyudmila|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57226755|title=The funeral party|date=2002|others=Cathy Porter, A. L. Tait|isbn=0-8052-1132-2|edition=1st American paperback|location=New York|oclc=57226755}}
The Kukotsky Enigma (Казус Кукоцкого, 2001){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency - Kukotsky Case, a novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2001)|url=https://elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/683-kukotskycase2001|access-date=2021-08-27|website=elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Women's Lies (Сквозная линия (Through Line), 2003){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Women's Lies, a novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2003)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/685-womenslies2003|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Sincerely Yours, Shurik (Искренне ваш Шурик, 2003){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Sincerely yours, Shurik, a novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2003)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/686-sincerelyyoursshurik2003|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
The People of Our Tsar (Люди нашего царя, Moscow, 2005){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – All Our Lord's Men, a novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2005)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/692-allourtzarsmen2005|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Daniel Stein, Interpreter (Даниэль Штайн, переводчик, Moscow, 2006), a greatly fictionalized story of Oswald Rufeisen{{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Daniel Stein, Interpreter, a novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2006)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/693-danielsteininterpreter2006|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Imago / The Big Green Tent (Зелёный шатёр, 2010){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Under the Green Tent, a novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2010)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/694-imago2010|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}{{Cite book|last=Ulitskaya|first=Lyudmila|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/869263715|title=The big green tent|date=2015|others=Mary Catherine Gannon|isbn=978-0-374-16667-0|edition=1st American|location=New York|oclc=869263715}}
Tomorrow There Will Be Happiness (Детство 45-53. А завтра будет счастье, 2013){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency - Tomorrow There Will Be Happiness, edited by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2013, NF)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/1650-tomorrow-there-will-be-happiness-2013|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Yakov's Ladder (Лестница Якова, 2015)

= Collections =

Poor Relatives (Бедные родственники, 1993){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Poor Relatives and The Queen of Spade, two collections of short stories by Ludmila Ulitskaya|url=https://elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/679-shortstories|access-date=2021-08-27|website=elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Girls (Девочки, 2002){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Girls, a novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2002)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/684-girls2002|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Childhood Forty-Nine (Детство сорок девять, 2003){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Childhood Forty Nine, collected stories by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2003)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/687-childhoodfortynine2003|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
The Queen of Spades (Первые и последние; Literal translation: 'First and Last', 2004){{Cite book|url=http://www.labirint.ru/books/53793/|title=Первые и последние: Рассказы}}
The Story about Ignatius the Cat, Fedya the Chimney-Sweep, and the Lonely Mouse (История про кота Игнасия, трубочиста Федю и Одинокую Мышь, 2004){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Trilogy for children vol.1 by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2004)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/688-trilogyforchildrenvol12004|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
The Story about old Kulebyakin, Mila the Whining Horse, and her Colt Ravki (История о старике Кулебякине, плаксивой кобыле Миле и жеребёнке Равкине, 2004){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Trilogy for children vol.2 by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2004)|url=https://elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/689-trilogyforchildrenvol22004|access-date=2021-08-27|website=elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
The Story about Antwerpen the Sparrow, Mikheev the Cat, the Aloe Vasya and the centipede Marya Semyonovna with her family (История про воробья Антверпена, кота Михеева, столетника Васю и сороконожку Марью Семёновну с семьёй, 2005){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Trilogy for children vol.3 by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2005)|url=https://elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/690-trilogyforchildrenvol32005|access-date=2021-08-27|website=elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Discarded Relics (Священный мусор, 2012){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Discarded Relics, collected essays by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2012, NF)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/1470-discarded-relics-non-fiction-2012|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
The Body of the Soul (О теле души, 2019){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Body of the Soul, collected stories by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2019)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/2007-body-of-the-soul-collected-short-stories|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Paper Theatre: Non-Prose (Бумажный театр: непроза, 2020){{Cite web|title="Бумажный театр: непроза" — новая книга Людмилы Улицкой|url=https://ast.ru/news/-bumazhnyy-teatr-neproza-novaya-kniga-lyudmily-ulitskoy-/|access-date=2021-08-26|website=Издательство AST|language=ru-RU}}

= Short stories =

"The Fugitive" published in The New Yorker (2014){{Cite magazine|date=2014-05-05|title=The Fugitive|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/05/12/the-fugitive|access-date=2021-08-26|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-US}}
"The Autopsy" published in The New Yorker (2023){{cite magazine |last1=Ulitskana |first1=Lyudmila |title=The Autopsy |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/28/autopsy-fiction-lyudmila-ulitskaya |magazine=The New Yorker |date=21 August 2023 |access-date=2024-07-01}}

= Plays and Screenplays =

Russian Jam and Other Plays (Русское варенье и другое, Moscow, 2005){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Russian Marmalade, collected plays by Ludmila Ulitskaya (2005)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/691-russianmarmelade2005|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}
Just the Plague (English translation; 1988, 2020){{Cite web|title=ELKOST International literary agency – Just the Plague, a screenplay by Ludmila Ulitskaya (1988, 2020)|url=https://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya/books/2008-just-the-plague-a-screenplay|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.elkost.com|language=en-gb}}

Online text

[https://web.archive.org/web/20040710150805/http://www.fictionbook.ru/author/ulickaya_lyudmila/kazus_kukockogo/ulickaya_kazus_kukockogo.html#TOC_id2340068 Kukotsky's Case full text] {{in lang|ru}}

References

External links

[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/17/lyudmila-ulitskaya-dissident-putin-interview Lyudmila Ulitskaya: why I'm not afraid of Vladimir Putin]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080905090411/http://www.openrussia.info/booker/eng/the Russian Booker Literary Prize official site]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20050110181054/http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2003-46-15 Ulitskaya's article on Solzhenitsyn in the Moscow News]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20040815010253/http://www.litwomen.ru/autogr23.html Ulitskaya's short autobiography and interview] {{in lang|ru}}
[http://www.randomhouse.com/schocken/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=0805211322 A brief review of The Funeral Party] – Ulitskaya's debut in the US
[http://www.elkost.com/authors/ulitskaya Ulitskaya's page on her literary agent's website (ELKOST Intl. Literary Agency)]