Paval Kastsiukevich: “I wanted to make people laugh”

Ales Kudrytski speaks with Paval Kastsiukevich about Belarus, Israel, literature and the lack of sunshine.  Read an article about Paval Kastsiukevich

Paval, you write short stories. What is your ideal day for writing a story?

Of course, the plot should come first. My ideal day for coming up with a plot includes a relaxed walk in an unknown neighbourhood. I am taking a stroll, looking at people and situations. For example, here’s a recent story I’ve ran into. I was going to fly to Tel-Aviv. Imagine this huge dark building of Minsk international airport. In one of its gloomy passages I saw sculptures of typically Belarusian animals – hairs, bears, elks… and a crocodile among them. That’s a ready-to-use story! Do you remember the old designs of Belarusian money, with different animals on our notes? I already picture myself such a note with a crocodile on it. This is how my stories are born. Or, here is another airport story. A weak-sighted old lady came up to me. She was also flying to Tel-Aviv and obviously had Jewish roots. She comes up to me and asks, “Young man, please, take a look at the indicator panel for me – I periodically see nothing”. This is how characters are born.