One of the most famous creative duets in modern literature in the post-Soviet space is Marina and Sergei Dyachenko. They write in different genres: social and science fiction, Slavic mythological fantasy, mysticism, plays, fairy tales, and create scripts for films.
Background of the Writers' Union
Both writers were born in Kiev, only Marina in January 1968, and Sergei shortly before the Victory, in April 1945. It would seem that such a difference in age simply guarantees misunderstanding and problems in the family. But no, the creative and conjugal union of these two people is strong, and they are happy in their personal lives.
In the biography of Sergei, academic education: KMI, graduate school, VGIK, became a candidate of biological sciences, worked as a psychiatrist for a long time, then wrote scripts for various films, received awards from newspapers and magazines. Serhiy Dyachenko is the winner of the State Prize of Ukraine.
Marina (then still Shirshova) grew up as an extremely gifted child and composed fairy tales from early childhood. Her first "attempts at writing" ("The Thief's Tricks" and "The Tale of a Steam Locomotive") even saw the light of day in a children's collection when Marina was only four years old. But she decided to connect her life with the stage and in her youth she entered the theater institute. After playing a little in the performances, I realized that this was not for her.
The beginning of love and the first books
Sergei saw Marina on the stage, and immediately realized that this woman would become his wife. He then worked hard, in mental hospitals and colonies, was going through a difficult divorce, he was not allowed to see the children, and Marina became a ray of light for him.
Dyachenko created a whole strategy for conquering the beauty, which suited him as a daughter, right up to writing a play especially for her. It was under this pretext that Sergei was able to invite the girl to a restaurant, where he announced his firm intentions. But two more years passed before the couple got married in 1993.
The first book was born almost immediately. Sergei, having experience as a screenwriter, simply took Marina's notebook, where she wrote down her fantasies (a habit from childhood) and created a coherent concept from scrappy notes. This is how the cult "The Gatekeeper" appeared, which was released in 1994 and received several literary awards at once.
Writing career
Marina loved fantasy - Tolkien, Ursula Le Guin, and Sergei - the much more strict Strugatsky and Lem. But they both love Pratchett, admiring how he could write about the most serious things while laughing. After the first book, stories started pouring down one after another. And each play, story, story or novel received all sorts of awards and frenzied popularity among readers.
Soon, in 1995, the daughter of Staska was born, who became the customer of children's fairy tales from her famous parents. Every evening she demanded a new story, they were invented by mom and dad, and all were written down by Marina. Unfortunately, Anastasia passed away after a serious illness in March 2018 …
It can take a long time to list the books that came out of the hands of this creative couple, but suffice it to say that the novel "Vita nostra", which is based on an idea that has never been born in literature, won the all-European "Prize" as the best science fiction book of the beginning of 21 century. And the Dyachenko spouses are recognized as the best science fiction writers in Europe.
Moving abroad
Closer to 2010, Marina and Sergei Dyachenko write less, but work more on films and scripts, collaborating with major film studios. Their documentary on World War II is nominated for an Oscar, and they receive awards for the best screenplays. In 2012, the family moved to Moscow, and a little later - to America, where they live now, actively collaborating with Hollywood and intending to create films based on their books.
