Afterword to the Book Festival

The festival on Red Square opened with "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"—marking the 225th anniversary of the first publication of this famous Old Russian literary masterpiece—performed in a musical and poetic rendition by People's Artist of Russia Sergei Garmash and the State Symphony Orchestra "New Russia."

Over the four days, Moscow readers and numerous visitors met with renowned contemporary writers such as Pavel Basinsky, Evgeny Vodolazkin, Asya Volodina, Dmitry Danilov, Darya Dontsova, Zakhar Prilepin, Roman Senchin, and poets including Dmitry Vodenikov, Maria Vatutina, Anna Revyakina, and many others.

In total, more than 600 meetings, lectures, presentations, theatrical performances, and musical events were organized for festival guests across 14 venues in the capital. During the festival, visitors added over 200,000 books to their home libraries.

As tradition dictates, the Book Festival also awarded prizes to the winners of Russian reading competitions and literary awards. New stars of Russian literature emerged—the "Litsey" Prize for young prose writers and poets announced the winners of its ninth season. In the "Poetry" category, the laureates were Sergei Kalashnikov, Yulia Krylov, and Maria Zatonskaya. In the "Prose" category, the winners were Svetlana Pavlova, Anna Basner, and Anna Babina.

This year’s festival was already the eleventh edition, yet it retained its ability to pleasantly surprise its guests and participants. For all who love and cherish books, it remained a vivid and memorable celebration.