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Festival of Russian literature Slovo opens in London

Among the 20 Russian writers taking part in the festival are Zakhar Prilepin, Sergei Shargunov, Olga Sedakova, Alexander Terekhov, Mikhail Shishkin, and Diana Arbenina

Russian writer Zahar Prilepin ITAR-TASS/Artem Geodakyan

Russian writer Zahar Prilepin

© ITAR-TASS/Artem Geodakyan

LONDON, March 08, 1:59 /ITAR-TASS/. A festival of Russian literature Slovo (Word) begins in the British capital city on Saturday. This will be fifth such festival in London, the organizers, the Academia Rossica foundation, told Itar-Tass.

The festival will last till March 23. The theme of this year’s festival is In Search of Lost Reality. The theme can be interpreted in different ways, and each writer will talk not only about his books, but also his thoughts on capturing today's intangible and ever-shifting reality and the impermanence of what we experience today.

Russian writers will meet with their readers living in Great Britain, with specialists in Slavonic philology, translators, journalists and their colleagues as well.

Among the 20 Russian writers taking part in the festival are Zakhar Prilepin, Sergei Shargunov, Olga Sedakova, Alexander Terekhov, Mikhail Shishkin, and Diana Arbenina, the front woman of the Nochnye Snaipery (Night Snipers) rock band. Mikhail Shishkin will deliver a lecture “Gogol’s Dead Souls and Living Noses,” dedicated to the works of Russian famous writer Nikolai Gogol. Diana Arbenina will present her new collection of verses Sprinter. Acclaimed Russian actress and philanthropist Dina Korzun will read out the play The Russian Wife of an English Gentleman by Lydia Grigorieva, a poet, essayist, and BBC radio personality.

The programme of the festival will also feature a literary contest, The Moment I Loved/ Hated/ Knew London - the organizers invited Russian writers in the British capital to share their experiences of London.

On March 20, Academia Rossica will award prizes to best translators of Russian literature. Before the awarding ceremony, Dr. Oliver Ready, a member of the judging panel, will give a lecture “Can and Mouse with Dostoevsky: The Translator as Detective.”

Academia Rossica is a cultural organization set up in 2000 to promote and strengthen cultural and intellectual ties between Russia and English-speaking world, pioneering intercultural projects and bringing the best of contemporary Russian culture to the outside world. With offices in London and Moscow, Academia Rossica acts as a bridge between these two thriving cultural capitals.

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