Press releases

MINSK, 23 January (BelTA) – The 25th Minsk International Book Fair has been rescheduled for 28 February-4 March, BelTA learned from Belarus’ Information Ministry.

The 25th installment will be headlined “Belarus: the cultural platform of Europe”.

“Belarus has historically been a hospitable country where you can learn a lot about the culture and customs of many nations. This is the place where many ethnic groups are living together. Their cultural diversity contributes to their mutual enrichment. The same government policy is applied to the people of other countries, for whom our country has become an example of commitment to peace, tolerance, and interethnic brotherhood,” the ministry noted.

The 2018 guest of honor is Serbia. The central exhibitor is Kazakhstan. Over the years, the expo has seen different guests of honor such as Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Kazakhstan, France, Germany, Venezuela, China, Armenia, and the UK.

The National Library of Serbia is set to hold an exhibition “Serbian literature in the First World War”. Meetings will be arranged with the famous Serbian prosaic Goran Petrovic and Dajana Lazarevic, the translator of Maxim Bogdanovich’s book of poems Vyanok into Serbian. The program will feature a Serbia-Belarus literary meeting “Art and scientific tandem: Ivan Charota and Dragan Lakicevic”.

Several publications will be presented during the expo, including a book of modern Serbian poetry released in Belarus, The Red Flowers of Kosovo Field (a book by Nevena Vitosevic-Ceklic), Russian translations of Saint Sava’s Studenicki Tipik and The Life of Saint Simeon, compilations of Belarusian poems in the Serbian magazine Povelja, and Serbian publications of the Belarusian magazines Maladost, Polymya, Neman, and the Litaratura i Mastatstva newspaper. The House of Friendship in Minsk will host an evening dedicated to the Serbian literature.

A number of publishers are expected to partake in the expo, including those from Russia (the exhibitions Moscow Government Publishing Programs and St Petersburg International Book Salon), Germany, the UK, the USA, and China.

Another highlight of the book fair will be the presentation of The Encyclopedia of China in Belarusian, a project carried out under a cooperation agreement between Belarus’ Information Ministry and China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

The Committee for Press and Mass Media Cooperation of the St Petersburg government will present a musical and literary evening dedicated to the Russian city’s 315th anniversary and Belarus-Russia joint literary projects.

The book fair will comprise an international literary symposium “Author and Time”. Writers from more than 20 countries have confirmed their participation in the conference.

The line-up of events includes an awards ceremony for the contest of young writers Pershatsvet (An Early Flower). The works of the winners have been published in the Pershatsvet almanac to be presented at the book fair.

Belarus’ national stand at the expo will see numerous guests with authors, publishers, and artists along with presentations of new books, roundtable discussions, autograph sessions, and an awards ceremony for The Art of Book national contest winners.

The event will take place at the national exhibition center Belexpo (14 Pobeditelei Avenue). Entry will be free.