The Writers' Union has received new facilities and is considering reducing membership

At the XVIII Congress of the Russian Writers' Union (SPR), which took place on December 8 at the Central House of Writers in Moscow, board members discussed new assets, consolidation of regional offices, the return of front-line prose and the need to certify writers.

Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO) Vladimir Medinsky announced the transfer to the Union of a number of historical sites — the Rostov House on Povarskaya Street and the famous "Writers' Bookstore" on Kuznetsky Bridge. The publishing house "Fiction" and the management of the Central House of Writers will also come under the wing of the SPR. According to him, this is the fulfillment of the president's instructions.

Separately, at the congress, plans were announced to restore the house of creativity in the Crimean Koktebel. Former Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Tabachnyk asked the board of the Joint Venture to facilitate the creation of a commission to find investors and form a budget for a large-scale restoration of the facility.

As part of the consolidation of the writing community, the creation of unified SPR organizations in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Bashkortostan, Karelia and other regions was confirmed. Medinsky paid special attention to the decision of his Tatarstan colleagues to join the Union. According to him, the goal is to regain the prestige of membership, build new mechanisms for promoting modern Russian literature and enhance interaction with the book market.

Ideas about tightening the rules of membership were also voiced at the congress. The writer Andrei Burovsky proposed to introduce mandatory certification once every five years and to deprive those who have actually ceased to engage in literary activity of membership. According to estimates by Yuri Polyakov, a member of the Board of the SPR, today there are about 40 thousand people in various writers' associations, which dilutes the professional community.

The president of the Russian Book Union, Sergei Stepashin, said that writers who remain in Russia and are ready to work in the new conditions will retain membership, while the authors who left de facto cease to belong to the SPR. He also noted the growth of the "pool of front-line writers" and called for the creation of an expert council to evaluate controversial texts instead of direct censorship mechanisms.

The delegates supported the changes in the charter, which allow the SPR to hold cultural events at its facilities and carry out certain types of activities. According to the participants, this step requires a clear management system and transparent financial mechanisms.

To rush through the "Rainbow": the jury awarded young writers and translators

The stories will be published in a bilingual almanac, and the winners will receive cash prizes.

On December 4, the winners of the prestigious Big Book Literary Award were announced in Moscow. Writer Eduard Verkin won the Fiction nomination with his novel "The Magpie on the Gallows," the result of 13 years of effort.

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