MINSK, 5 February (BelTA) – The book contributes to communication, to getting acquainted with someone else, and to starting a friendship, BelTA learned from Belarusian Information Minister Aleksandr Karlyukevich during the opening ceremony of the 27th Minsk International Book Fair.
The official said: “The book offers a broad platform for communication, familiarity, and friendship. Belarus is an open book. Feel free to come to the book fair, see all the stands, all the exhibitors, find something for you to read, discover a new world.”
About 10,000 titles of books and brochures with the total number of copies at 24 million were published in Belarus in 2019. “No doubt, these books are present during the fair. They are accompanied by thousands of titles of books and brochures published in the Russian Federation, books in Russian and other languages. Over 800 books in foreign languages were published in our country last year, including over 550 books in English,” the information minister noted.
Aleksandr Karlyukevich stressed that the book fair is truly a unique event. “Every book fair represents one year of hard labor on the part of book publishers, authors, publicists, and reporters,” he added.
Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Andrei Kuntsevich read out an address sent by the head of state to participants of the Minsk International Book Fair.
The 27th Minsk International Book Fair is scheduled to take place in an administrative building located at 14 Pobeditelei Avenue, Minsk on 5-9 February. About 400 exhibitors from 30 CIS and non-CIS states are expected to present their new books during the book fair. “Belarus is an open book” is this year's slogan. The Russian Federation is a guest of honor. The United States of America is the central exhibitor.
Presentations of international publishing projects, meet-the-author events, and autograph sessions will take place today, on the book fair's opening day. The authors' day “Thoughts aloud” will take place on 6 February. The international symposium of writers “The writer and the time: Literature as part of the cultural dialogue” will be its main event. Over 50 writers from 23 countries will come to participate in the event for the sixth time. Presentations of books by Vladimir Korotkevich will be held in honor of the 90th anniversary of the writer's birthday. Authors of various books will share their thoughts aloud, including Rector of the Belarusian State University Andrei Korol, Chairman of the Education, Science, and Culture Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly Igor Marzalyuk, and the sociologist and diplomat Ivan Antonovich.
The third day of the book fair – 7 February – will focus on Belarusian topics: books, authors, and cuisine. Results of the 59th national contest Book Art will be summed up. 8 February will be interesting for parents and kids, who will be able to take part in multiple events and presentations of books for kids. The day will feature theatrical performances inspired by books by various authors, interactive reading sessions, literature quests, workshops, and a discussion with a demonstration of new book formats. Winners of the literature contest Pershatsvet [the first bloom] will be awarded. Results of the campaign “Writing the book together. What we would like Belarus to look like in ten years” will be summed up. The campaign was organized by the Information Ministry and the Education Ministry. 9 February will end with a ceremony to award participants of the book fair for the best expositions.
Movies inspired by books will be screened in movie theaters and aired by Belarusian TV channels during the days of the book fair. They will be accompanied by plays inspired by books in theaters.
