16th-century printing house and over 80 events in honor of the Book. How Polotsk hosted the Day of Belarusian Written Language

“To Polotsk! That’s our Jerusalem!”

September 3rd began with a Divine Liturgy in the Epiphany Cathedral – a blessing for the events of the main festive day. Then, a "Garden of Prayer" was planted from young thuja trees near the church. This is the final action of the Republican scientific and educational expedition "Path to the Shrines" with the Holy Fire from the Tomb of the Lord, whose participants are representatives of the clergy and creative intelligentsia of the country.

The pilgrimage route, 1110 km long, passed through 11 settlements, including Varapayeva, Porplishcha, Dokshytsy, Byahoml, Lepel, Ushachy, and Polotsk in the Vitebsk region.

In the cradle of Belarusian statehood, 150 writers, publishers, book trade workers, librarians, masters of arts and folk crafts, as well as production teams, specialists in the tourism industry, postal services, and trade union and youth activists contributed to this grand event. The scale of the celebration was impressive – over 80 events in honor of the Book, the printed word, and the native language.

During the republican socio-political event "We are Together!", labor dynasties and front-line workers of the region were honored. Diplomas from the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Belarusian Trade Union of Cultural, Information, Sports and Tourism Workers were also awarded to our colleagues – Elena Kalenik, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the united newspaper "Polotsk Herald," and Andrey Pankrat, Editor-in-Chief of the district newspaper "Vestnik Glybochchyny."

Polotsk, the Youth Capital of Belarus – 2017, invited everyone to the youth festival “We Are In The Theme!”, and also hosted the final of the large-scale (13 thousand participants) republican creative competition for young readers “Living Classics”, dedicated to the anniversary of book printing.

Five schoolchildren represented the Vitebsk region in the final. Violetta Budko, a student of Dokshitsy Secondary School No. 2, won third place for her recitation of Danuta Bichel's poem “Native Language”. The laureate received a diploma signed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vasily Zharko, a voucher to the “Zubryonok” camp, and tickets to performances at the Yanka Kupala National Theatre and the Yakub Kolas National Academic Drama Theatre.

Near the building of the zonal telecommunication hub, a ceremonial cancellation of a stamp and postal envelope dedicated to the Day of Belarusian Written Language in Polotsk took place.

The epicenter of the celebration was the book and press festival near the monument to the first printer. Thanks to strong state support for book printing, more than 10,000 books with a total circulation of over 35 million copies are published annually in Belarus.

The best of this wealth, published in 2016, as well as the latest domestic publications, could be seen and purchased in Polotsk these days. In the “Vitebsk Region Media” pavilion, readers were also interested in the regional newspaper “Vitebskiye Vesti”.

A distinctive feature of the festival was the “16th Century Printing House” with functioning reconstructed printing equipment.

And, of course, readers had the opportunity to meet their favorite authors. At the creative platform "Writer's Word," among the speakers from all over the republic, members of the Vitebsk regional branch of the Union of Writers of Belarus, laureates of literary prizes Tamara Krasnova-Gusachenko, Ales Zhigunov, Nikolai Namesnikov, Sergei Trofimov, and others shared their creative work.

The literary and musical program "How Yanka Was Born" was well-received – based on the rock opera "Kurgan," to which poet Andrei Skarinkin, son of the famous poet and translator, a native of Vitebsk, Vladimir Skarinkin, contributed. The literary and musical composition "Writers – to their Countrymen" was a gift to the hosts and guests of the festival from masters of the literary word, and much more.

"Po-la-tsak! You are our ancestral shore"

After Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Francysk Skaryna, Simeon of Polotsk, their countrymen from new generations distinguished themselves in the field of belles-lettres.

The history of the printed word shows that Polotsk became the cradle for many talents – linguists Kajetan Kasovich and Bronisław Epimakh-Shypila, historian Mikhail Balinsky, folklorists Alexander Shlyubsky and Anton Hrynevich, publicist Ignat Mankovsky, playwright Nikolai Manokhin, writers Vissarion Garbuk, Dmitry Kaigorodov, Mikola Gvazdov, Viktor Gumeniuk, Stepan and Mikola Syamashka.

From Polotsk, State Prize laureate, prose writer Ales Savitsky, and poet Naum Galperovich, awarded the Francysk Skaryna Medal, are honorary citizens of the city, as are their brothers in pen Pyotr Lisitsyn, Valentin Luksha, Leonid Proksha, Pyotr Vasyuchenko, publicist Sergei Sakharov, and other diligent workers of the word.

Today, five members of the Union of Writers of Belarus live here, including the winners of regional literary prizes – honorary citizen of Polotsk Nadezhda Solodkaya and Galina Zagurskaya. The literary associations "Naddzvinnie," "Polotskaya Vetv," and "Krylya" are active.

The creative community of the ancient city opens new names to local readers every year, presents new publications. Near the sign "Polotsk – the geographical center of Europe" during the festival of writing, poems by contemporary local authors and songs to their lyrics were heard.

Praise to Her Majesty the Book!

As always, the culmination of this day, dedicated to honoring the achievements of the luminaries who worked diligently in the field of belles-lettres before, and to discovering new talents, is the award ceremony for the winners of the regular republican competition for the best works in various genres of literary creation.

It is aimed at supporting national talents, creative competition among writers, and the search for new artistic ideas, a cause initiated by Francysk Skaryna. The residents of Polotsk and guests of the festival were welcomed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vasily Zharko, Minister of Information Lilia Ananich and her deputy Alexander Karliukevich, Minister of Culture Boris Svetlov, Chairman of the Union of Writers of Belarus Nikolai Cherginets.

Among the 40 contenders for the National Literary Prize for books published in 2016, poets and authors writing for children were nominated the most. The jury determined the best in seven nominations. The laureates were: prose writer Lyudmila Rublevskaya – (novel "The Adventures of Prantsish Vyrtsevich, Traitor and Confederator"), playwright Vasily Tkachov (collection of plays "Characters"), publicist Zinovy Prigodich (collection "Figures"), poet Anatoly Avrutin (book of selected works "Enlightenment"), in the nomination "Criticism and Literary Studies" – Valery Nazarov ("The Secret Writing of Andrey Mry: The Subtext of the Realities of the Writer's Work"). The best work for children and youth was created by Mikhail Paznyakov (book "Lake Diva"), and the best debut – by Margarita Latyshkevich (collection of short stories "Apples").

 

Poet Siarhei Davydovich was awarded an Honorary Diploma of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus. According to the tradition of the festival of writing, their works replenished the book collection of the Polotsk Museum of Belarusian Book Printing. And the Chairman of the Polotsk District Executive Committee, Mikola Shauchuk, received the highest award of the SPB from Mikola Charginets – the medal "For a Great Contribution to the Development of Literature," as a token of gratitude to the region for its comprehensive support of the best traditions of the state festival of writing.

The ceremony was adorned with performances by famous artists and ensembles. Of course, the signature song of the festival, "Day of Belarusian Writing," was also performed.

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The festival was a success. Its participants touched upon the origins of domestic book printing and paid tribute to the ancient cultural heritage of our people. Books and various souvenirs with Belarusian symbols, an uplifting mood, and the goodwill of the people of Polotsk remained as memories.

The baton was passed to the town of Ivanava in the Brest region, a region from which the family of the classic of Russian literature Fyodor Dostoevsky, the famous cultural figure, local historian and artist Napoleon Orda, who, by the way, left behind a series of drawings depicting old Polotsk, originated. The festival will be held there for the first time. Good luck, Day of Belarusian Writing!

Galina Shpakovskaya. Photos by Dmitry OSIPOV. "Vitebskiye Vesti".