The presentation of the book "Yurhiniya" by Vitebsk journalist and writer Mikhail Konon took place at the regional library

In his novel, Mikhail Konon reflected a huge layer of life of the khutors of the Western regions of Belarus: he tried to show how mass collectivization, dispossession of kulaks, eviction of peasants, their life during the German occupation and the post-war period actually took place.

– Previously, no one in Belarusian literature had revealed this topic so truthfully. These topics were covered from a communist position, – said Mikhail Semenovich. – I wrote as it really was for the peasants, fellow villagers, khutors.

The writer worked on the book for almost his entire conscious life: he collected information bit by bit for about half a century. He worked in the State Archives of the Vitebsk region, personally interviewed eyewitnesses of those years, thoroughly studied the local dialect (in which his characters later spoke), names characteristic of the Western Belarusian region, calendar dates, ethnographic traditions, and the daily life of local peasants. As a result, the historical period from the life of Western peasants from 1933 to 1953 is reflected in detail in Mikhail Konon's book. This is unanimously emphasized by philologists and historians, as is the fact that the novel is read in one breath, like a thrilling detective story. This bold, sincere, and truthful novel, according to experts, is simply a treasure trove of folk wisdom.

As noted by the book's editor, Petr Laman, the period described in the novel is insufficiently researched in Belarusian literature. Mikhail Konon reflects it through the worldview of ordinary peasants, revealing the theme through the example of the fate of the main character's family – Lyavon Zhigula, his wife Ustinya, fellow villagers, and relatives. Describing the process of dispossessing the most industrious peasants, who were exiled to uninhabited, harsh places to perish from unbearable labor, the author conveyed the tragedy of an entire generation. Konon vividly, emotionally, and lyrically describes the landscapes of Belarusian nature, scenes of khutor and village life. And the "yurhiniya" (dahlia) – a rare flower for those times – is an image of Western Belarus for the author.

The novel "Юргінія", published in 2014 in a small print run of only 50,000 copies, is written in the colorful Belarusian language, and the author's keen interest in current events is clearly evident throughout the novel.

Mikhail Konon's writing talent manifested itself in his school years: as a sixth-grader at the school in the village of Kripuli, Dokshytsy District, he wrote a note for the district newspaper. After school, Mikhail received a specialty as a tractor driver-machinist, was involved in the construction of bridges and roads, and after serving in the army, he built the Saratov HPP on the Volga River, worked at factories in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, and also studied at the Faculty of Russian Philology at the Pedagogical Institute there. Returning to his homeland, he did not immediately find his calling: he worked at the "Vistan" enterprise, even served in the police, and then, after graduating from the Faculty of Journalism of BSU, he became an employee of the editorial office of the regional newspaper "Vitsiebski Rabochy". For about fifteen years, Mikhail Semyonovich worked in the city newspaper "Vits'bichi", writing on a wide variety of topics, including covering pressing issues in the housing and communal services sector.

Former colleagues speak of Mikhail Semyonovich as a work-obsessed, incredibly hardworking person who simply doesn't know how to rest. Nevertheless, work did not prevent him from raising three children; now, together with his wife, Lyubov Markovna, who has been by his side all these years, he is raising grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Tatyana Solovyova, "Vits'bichi"