From December 1921 until January 1922, Mikhail Bulgakov was in charge of the news department of the private newspaper, ‘The Trade and Industry Gazette’. The paper was not around for long – after six editions, to Bulgakov’s despair the publication went bankrupt and closed down.

‘I’m in charge of news at The Trade and Industry Gazette and if I lose my mind, that will be the reason’, wrote Bulgakov to his sister Nadezhda on 1st December 1921. The work at this paper was far from being literary – the budding writer had to look for information at agencies and institutions at different ends of the city; his relatives sent him material from Kiev at his request. In January 1922, the paper went bust: ‘…Due to the difficult external conditions, The Gazette is falling apart. The editor is saying that there is still a chance, but I’m sure there will be no seventh edition. Finita!... You must understand what I’m feeling today going down the drain with The Gazette. In one word, crushed.’