Interview with TATIANA BOGOMOLOVA

OCA Magazine: Tell us, please, about yourself and your creative activity / work.
Tatiana Bogomolova: I never thought about writing when I was a child or a teenager. Once, in my youth, I dreamed of becoming a journalist: I started to publish in Komsomolskaya Gazeta. But my mother soon found out about my intentions and persuasively dissuaded me. I did not write, either at my desk or to read to my friends. When I started working as a lawyer, I wrote such long and detailed pleadings that judges advised me to become a writer. But their words seemed like a joke to me. And only my work as a religious scholar in 1996-1998 in the NGO ‘Institute of Religion and Law’ forced me to write articles in the magazine ‘Religion and Law’. I was very surprised that they were published unedited: I had a low opinion of my own abilities. This gave me a strong impetus and motivated me to write for the journal of the All-Russian Social Movement and other journals and newspapers. My first book was published in 2007, and the next two in 2008 and 2011. Rereading my journalistic work of those years today, I find no mistakes in it. Amazing! It was only in 2013 that I studied journalism by correspondence to fulfil a long-held dream and become even more professional in writing words. My work was considered excellent by my teachers, which encouraged me to seriously consider writing and even quit my job as a lawyer. Since 2014, nine more of my books have been published.

OCA: What is your main achievement in 2023-2024?
TB: In 2023 I became a finalist of the festival of the 12th Open Eurasia “Super Cup” in the category “Small Prose”, also a laureate of the 2nd degree of the international literary contest named after V. Whitman of ILACT, and finally the International Academy of Russian Literature awarded me the medal of L.N. Tolstoy “For education, enlightenment and mentoring”. At the beginning of 2024 I became a laureate of the literary contest organised by the International Union of Writers.

OCA: What is the main feature that makes you and your art/work unique?
TB: As a person who believes in God, I have been looking for prose works of fiction in Russia for many years. But I could find very few authors of such books and texts, and I saw significant shortcomings in their works, which discouraged potential readers. Thus was born the dream of writing fictional prose for people who believe in God, which was marked by the publication of my trilogy of novels in 2016. This was followed by the publication of my short stories, novellas and novels. So far, I have not found any new writers whose work would reflect the life of this little-known section of the population. I consider my work as a journalist and writer to be enlightening and necessary in this field.

OCA: Tell us, please, about the events or projects of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London) and projects that you have already taken part in and how does ECG influence your creativity and success in your work?
TB: Participated in the 10th and 12th Open Eurasia festivals in the category ‘Small Prose’, member of the Eurasian Creative Guild.

OCA: What is your motivation and the main aim of your creativity?
TB: I try to pour hot drops into the ocean of goodness, light, love of the world’s literary treasure, telling mainly about the life of people who believe in God, or other moral and edifying stories. I consider my works about this category of people on earth very important for our generation and I am glad that my works have been published in various collections, magazines, almanacs both in Russia and abroad.

OCA: What would you wish for the members of the Guild and other creative people, just starting their career?
TB: I sincerely hope that the members of the Guild will continue to find talented people in the field of art and literature, to properly evaluate their works at festivals and competitions, and to publicly promote the best of them! I wish all creative people who start their way in this field to find themselves, their vocation, meanings and ideas that are demanded by humanity and clearly answer the questions of our time!