Lyudmila Ulitskaya: Telling Stories, Documenting History

Internationally acclaimed Russian writer and public intellectual Lyudmila Ulitskaya talked about two of her latest novels. “The Big Green Tent,” just translated into English, describes the Soviet 1960s generation – people who had to choose between the voice of conscience and self-preservation. Her new novel, “Jacob’s Ladder,” is a family saga, where storylines of the early and late 20th century gradually converge, as they draw from a hundred years of Russia’s history.

Lyudmila Ulitskaya is a renowned and best-selling Russian novelist, playwright, short story writer, and activist. Her works have been translated into over 25 languages, and some of her novels have been adapted for screen and stage. Her numerous awards include the Russian Booker Prize for the novel The Kukotsky Enigma, the Russian Big Book Prize for the novel Daniel Stein, Interpreter, and a variety of other national and international awards and nominations. In 2014, France awarded her the country's top decoration, The Order of Légion d'Honneur.