News

SLOVO is returning to London in March 2014 for the fifth time!

From Pushkin to Pelevin, Dostoevsky to Bykov, Mayakovsky to Shishkin – literature has always been Russia’s calling card and writers have been its most important ambassadors. Their stories about their magnificent country, their insights into human nature,

Penguin Classics has published a new translation of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, which is arguably the greatest Russian novel of all time. The novel "hinges on a murder scene of appalling violence and artistic brilliance, but what is the meaning of violence for Dostoevsky and his characters?" On Friday, March 7th Dr Oliver Ready, the translator of this exciting new edition, will be discussing the novel and the process involved in translating this classic. 

2London-based company, Russia Local Ltd, in a partnership with a number of British and Russian cultural, educational and business organisations as well as media has launched an exciting new project called Russia4Brits intended to spread knowledge Russia among British schoolchildren. In challenging popular misconceptions about Russia by means of British youth, the project aims to benefit the cause of Russo-British relations and international business and trade.

Mikhail Shishkin is considered to be one of Russia's greatest contemporary writers. His first novel One Night Befalls Us All published in the Russian literary journal Znamia in 1993 was named “the best literary debut of the year”. Every next novel written by 

Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is one of the most well known pieces of Russian literature. It was described by William Faulkner as the best novel ever written and by Fyodor Dostoevsky as “flawless”, whilst another Russian writer Sergey Dovlatov admitted that Anna Karenina’s death at the end of the book was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.

The largest Russian Internet holding Ozon.ru is selling 20% of its shares for 150 million dollars.

In October 2013 Russian leading eBook retailer LitRes secured a $ 5 million investment from the Investment Fund 'Russian Internet Technology' (RITF). The daily newspaper Kommersant reports that RITR received a “substantial stake in the company”, however the control over the company was retained by its owner, the Eksmo publisher.

Russian poet Eugene Evtushenko is known to coin a phrase that “In Russia, a poet is more than just a poet”. From its title to its highlights, the new documentary Russia’s Open Book: Writing in the Age of Putin reflects on this Evtushenko’s sentiment.

Andrei Ivanov's novel Hanuman's Journey to Lolland had it's first stage-performance at the Hamburg Thalia-Theatre (December 14, 2013) directed by the Estonian directors Tiit Ojasoo and Ene-Liis Semper. Sebastian Rudolph, Germany's "actor of the year 2012" takes part in the performance. 

By the verdict of three of the five members of the jury, Andrei Volos has won the 2013 Russian Booker Prize for his novel Return to Panjrud. The prize for the winner is 1.5 million rubles and each of the finalists will receive 150 thousand rubles. This year 82 novels out of the 87 nominated were accepted into the competition for the prize. Along with Return to Panjrud 

For the fifteenth time the Central House of Artists in Moscow opens its doors to greet participants and guests to the International Book Fair for High Quality Literature. From November 27th to December 1st, the fair with the nick name “Non-fiction Book Fair” will host exhibitors — publishers, book selling companies and service providers — from 15 countries. The list of countries includes Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden and the USA.

The nominees for this year’s long list included 25 non-fiction works, whilst the short-list had one less than usual: the prize jury decided to waver the fourth nomination in the category of the ‘Humanities’ as they considered that there were not enough works of outstanding quality for that category. 

Ivan Bunin made history as the first Russian writer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature "for the strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing". The immediate basis for the award was the autobiographical novel The Life of Arseniev, which he wrote in 1933 in emigration.

On the 14th November the British Council and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 2014 will see the biggest ever programme of UK cultural projects take place across Russia and an unprecedented showcase of Russian culture in the United Kingdom. 

RLO has launched a programme “Book reviews and Interviews in 4 minutes” on YouTube. 

A shortlist of the “NOS” Literary Prize for 2013 was announced during an open literary debate at the Krasnoyarsk Book Fair VII on October 31, 2013. The short-list includes nine entries:

Those who are interested in Russian Literature are mostly welcome to join discussion and readings of a short novel by one of Russia’s most celebrated and wittiest authors of recent times, newly translated into English by his daughter, Katherine. 

This year Russia is celebrating a grand jubilee in its history - four hundred years since Mikhail Romanov, the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty, ascended to the throne. The world has changed dramatically since the grand festivities of 300th anniversary held during the reign of Nicholas II, the last Russian tsar. One century later we are still assessing the Romanovs’ legacy and their role in the history. 

Global Expert and Service Team have published The Russian Avant-Guard Encyclopaedia. Its authors, Vasili Rakitin and Andrei Sarabyanov, have worked on it for over 12 years. The encyclopaedia, which consists of three volumes, covers all fields of art: painting, graphics, photography, sculpture, architecture and theatre. 

The book Viktor Popkov: Russian Painter of Genius has been published by Unicorn Press Ltd.