Plot Development: A Presentation by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Korelitz’s novel The Plot raises questions about appropriation and who has the right to tell someone else’s story.  “To plagiarise language is to be boiled in oil as far as I’m concerned,” Korelitz says. “But there’s a murkier thing when it comes to the story” (The Guardian, July 23, 2021).

She will also share her observations on the movie adaptations of her work. You Should Have Known was adapted as HBO’s 2020 limited series, The Undoing, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, and Admission was the basis for the 2013 film starring Tina Fey.

Korelitz told the Forward in July 2021 that because she never expected to see every detail of her novel translated faithfully to the screen, she’s been able to enjoy watching them as linked but distinct projects. “There’s nothing like the thrill of walking onto a set and seeing hundreds of people running around doing work you don’t understand,” she said. “It’s a very powerful feeling to know that something you created instigated this.”