In celebration of Yuri Gagrin’s momentous flight into space 50 years ago next week, we are running a competition that is out of this world!

The first Russian stand at BookExpo America New York, 25 - 27 May 2010 This year the BOOKS FROM RUSSIA stand took part in BookExpo America, the main fair in the American book industry. The stand was organised by the Russian Federal agency for Press and Mass Communications and represented a range of Russian publishers. BookExpo America is currently undergoing major changes, transforming itself from a fair which focused primarily on the domestic market into an international book forum.

Leading Russian writers billed for the London Book Fair 2011. The London Book Fair with their strategic partner, the British Council, and The Russian Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication with their official partner Academia Rossica announce the Russia Market Focus Cultural Programme

Rossica Young Translators Award was established in 2009 to support young people who are passionate about the world of translation and to encourage literary translation amongst those who study and speak Russian. With the help of this award we would like to nurture a new generation of Russian to English translators, as well as encourage cultural dialogue. What is more, this award casts a spotlight on the newest developments in Russian literature by selecting extracts for translation from the latest releases by acclaimed contemporary authors.

To celebrate the new classics of Russian literature, Academia Rossica is running a series of competitions, giving you the chance to win copies of 10 great new books published in English translation. For our first competition, we want you to update your favorite Russian novel for the 21st Century and rewrite it in 25 words or less.

The BOOKS FROM RUSSIA stand was held at the London Book Fair for the third time by the Russian Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication in collaboration with Academia Rossica. Building on the success of last year, publishers were offered even greater opportunities for creating and expanding business links with the fast growing Russian book market. This was of particular important this year as part of the lead up to the 2011 London Book Fair, where Russia will be the Guest of Honour. Despite being affected by the unexpected volcanic activity, as was the entire London Book Fair, we were very pleased to see that the BOOKS FROM RUSSIA stand was one of the liveliest at the fair.

ACADEMIA ROSSICA's aim is to bring writers, publishers and translators together and to help create structures to support the publication and distribution of Russian literature in the English speaking world. The Translators Day will be a key element of this project, which will set the ground for a stronger recognition and promotion of literary translation from Russian into English. 10.30 – 11.30 PEN Café, EC2 Rossica Translation Prize, Young Translators Prize award. A special Rossica Translation award to Stanley Mitchell 11.30 –12.00 BFR, Y455 Russkiy Mir Translation Grants Presentation 12.00 – 13.00 BFR, Y455 Roundtable: Translating Russia 13.30 –14.30 BFR, Y455 Presentation: Famous Englishmen, Known Only in Russia Presentation: Misreading English Literature – A few true stories from Soviet translations 15.00 – 15.30 BFR, Y455 New Millennium Prize Award. Winner - Mary Hobson, poet and translator. 16.00 – 16.30 PEN Café, EC2 Market Focus Handover Ceremony, Champagne Reception Interpreting for the Russian guests at the LBF and SLOVO festival For those interested in offering their professional translation skills during the London Book Fair, ACADEMIA ROSSICA will have a series of events and seminars where interpreters will be needed in order for Russian and UK guests to communicate with each other. This an excellent opportunity for professional translators to play an involved and encouraging role in the development of future publishing projects that will lead to the further promotion and distribution of Russian literature in the English speaking world. To register as an interpreter, please contact Rodrigo@academia-rossica.org by 15th April.

Vladimir Grigoriev is Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Agency for the Press and Mass Communications and he is a tireless campaigner and champion of Russian literature and culture at all the world's major book fairs: he has famously said, ‘Russian literature should know no boundaries.'

23 & 24 March, 12 & 15 May
The London Symphony Orchestra performs a cycle of Tchaikovsky symphonies, conducted by the great Valery Gergiev. 20% discount available to all Academia Rossica contacts.

To mark the centenary of Leo Tolstoy’s death, Academia Rossica with support from the "Russkiy Mir" Foundation (Moscow) and the Russian Embassy in London presents a programme of film adaptations of the writer’s greatest works and a documentary film about Tolstoy and his family based on the archival footage made in 1908-1910.

Британский Совет, Фонд Academia Rossica, Федеральное агентство по печати и массовым коммуникациям и Лондонская книжная ярмарка приглашают издателей на семинары серии «KnowHow!» с участием ведущих британских экспертов.

Федеральное Агентство по печати и массовым коммуникациям, Academia Rossica и Британский Совет приглашают Вас принять участие в семинарах серии «KnowHow!» с участием ведущих британских экспертов.

The International Lounge at the Moscow International Book Fair is a space where the Russian publishing world can form links with the international book industry. Alongside the extensive programme of seminars and roundtables, it is a place for networking and deals, as well as being an information centre on international collaboration. The International Lounge is organised by Academia Rossica with the support from the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication and the Moscow International Book Fair. The programme of seminars and presentations is focused on the preparation for Russia Market Focus at the London Book Fair 2011.

The Russkiy Mir Foundation in collaboration with Academia Rossica is launching a programme of grants for literary translation from Russian into English. This programme aims to promote Russian literature internationally and facilitate cultural and intellectual links between Russia and the English-speaking world. We invite publishers and translators to apply for funding to translate works from Russian into English. We are particularly keen to support projects that aim to bring original literary projects and works by contemporary Russian writers to a wider English audience. On the whole, priority is given to translation of contemporary fiction and poetry; literary non-fiction titles and new translations of classics may also be eligible if they are exceptional in terms of literary value. The scheme supports only translations from the original Russian text.

В этом году в рамках IV Фестиваля Российского кино в Великобритании состоится Первый Фестиваль Студенческого короткометражного кино. Участником Фестиваля может стать любой русскоговорящий студент или выпускник ВУЗа Великобритании в возрасте от 16 до 30 лет.

В рамках подготовки программы «Россия – Почетный гость Лондонской книжной ярмарки 2011 года» Федеральное агентство по печати и массовым коммуникациям совместно с фондом Academia Rossica, Британским советом и Лондонской книжной ярмаркой начинает серию профессиональных семинаров для издателей с участием крупнейших британских и российских экспертов в области издательского дела.

We are excited to tell you that Maria Galina's book ‘On Two Feet’ made top ten poetical collections in 2009 according to Moskovski Schyot (The Moscow Tally) literary prize. The overall winner of the prize will be named tomorrow on Friday at the 5th Moscow International Book Festival, one hour before Maria will appear at Apollo cinema in London to read her poetry at the event organised by Academia Rossica. We congratulate Maria with this huge achievement and keep our fingers crossed that she takes the first prize.

The first Russian stand at BookExpo America New York, 23 - 26 May 2011 This year the BOOKS FROM RUSSIA stand took part in BookExpo America, the main fair in the American book industry. The stand was organised by the Russian Federal agency for Press and Mass Communications and represented a range of Russian publishers. BookExpo America is currently undergoing major changes, transforming itself from a fair which focused primarily on the domestic market into an international book forum.

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RUSSIAN TO ENGLISH LITERARY TRANSLATION We are delighted to announce that entries for the Rossica Translation Prize 2011 are now open. The Rossica Prize is the only prize awarded for the best new translation of a high-quality Russian literary work into English. Literary work must be written in Russian by any author, present or past, and published in English in 2009 and 2010. The prize is open to works published in any country. The value of the prize is £5,000 divided between the winning translator and the publisher.

Friday 11 June, 7pm, Apollo Cinema
Maria Galina and Arkady Shtipel, two distinguished contemporary Russian poets, will read their poetry (in Russian). Maria Galina is a poet and writer whose work is made up of a colourful mix of the ordinary and the extraordinary. Her avant-garde writing is juxtaposed with folkloric, otherworldly images which play within and alongside the everyday, making for a style which is completely her own.

27 мая, 19:00, Apollo Cinema
Приглашаем Вас на вечер с Дмитрием Быковым, одним из самых харизматичных и ярких представителей современной интеллектуальной России. Лауреат многих литературных премий, включая «Национальный бестселлер» и «Большая книга», острый публицист, блестящий рассказчик , теле- и радиоведущий, страстный киноман – Дмитрий Быков не нуждается в представлении.

Thursday 27 May, 7pm, Apollo Cinema
Dmitry Bykov is one of Russia most charismatic and controversial intellectual figures – an award winning writer, a phenomenal film buff and a successful tv and radio presenter. Dmitry will be interviewed by Alexander Kan from BBC World Service. They will be discussing today’s Russia, Bykov’s latest books, including Living Souls, which has recently been published in Britain, new Russian films and the crossover themes in Russian and and British culture (in Russian).

Yume Pictures and Academia Rossica are delighted to invite you to a special screening of the film 'A Room and a Half' at 8pm on 10 May at Cine Lumière, South Kensington, London, SW7 2DT, followed by Q&A with director Andrey Khrzhanovsky and actress Alisa Freyndlikh. It is a beautifully mesmerising film based on the life of the Russian poet Joseph Brodsky.

Winner of the Rossica Young Translators Award 2010 announced! On 21 April the winner of the RYTA was announced by judges Oliver Ready and Robert Chandler at a special ceremony in the PEN Literary Café at the London Book Fair. The winner is: Leo Shtutin for his translation of an extract from Mikhail Shishkin's novel Letter-Book (Письмовник) Leo Shtutin receives £500 and an invitation from Academia Rossica to travel to Moscow to take part in a Translators' Congress in September 2010. The Congress will be a high-profile event which will take place during the International Moscow Book Fair and in which more 100 translators of Russian literature will take part.

We are as disappointed as you are that the ash cloud stopped our Russian authors from making it to the UK for our SLOVO festival. However, the festival has not been cancelled, merely postponed. We are working hard to bring the events to London at a later date, so keep a close eye on our website! In the meantime, Academia Rossica is delighted to support The East End Film Festival (22 April – Friday 30) in their focus on new Russian cinema.

On 19 – 25 April ACADEMIA ROSSICA will bring you SLOVO, the Russian Literature Festival that knows no boundaries. Packed with a kaleidoscope of genre-defying events, SLOVO will offer a unique insight into Russian literary culture, presenting not only the foremost contemporary Russian writers and highly opinionated public figures, such as Dmitry Bykov, Sergei Lukyanenko, Olga Slavnikova, Maria Galina and Vladimir Sharov, but also cutting edge young writers and poets from right across Russia’s eleven time zones. This year’s festival sees a particular focus on fantasy and magical realism. Lukyanenko’s 'Night Watch' series clearly comes under this genre, but ‘Living Souls’ by Dmitry Bykov,‘2017’ by Olga Slavnikova and ‘Iramifications’ by Maria Galina, all newly published in English, have also been influenced by this notable undercurrent of Russian writing. Our authors will present their new books in light of this genre, which has its roots in the 19th and 20th century literary greats, Gogol, Bulgakov, Zamyatin and Platonov, while Lev Danilkin, literary critic and ‘Afisha’ columnist will explore why Russian literature has a tendency to look at reality through a prism of the unreal. In addition to events with established authors, SLOVO will introduce Russia’s newest literary voices. Olga Slavnikova, herself an award-winning writer, is the coordinator of Russia’s prestigious Debut prize for young writers and will present six Debut prize winners at this year’s festival, including three of Russian literature’s rising stars, Polina Klyukina from Perm, Alisa Ganieva from Dagestan and Alexander Gritsenko from Astrakhan. Key to this festival is the belief that literature can act as an instrument of social and political change and can help to bring two cultures together. For this reason SLOVO will coincide with the London Book Fair, where ties between the Russian and British publishing industry have already been strengthened by naming Russia Guest of Honour and Market Focus of the London Book Fair 2011. SLOVO will continue in this spirit with unique collaborative events between Russian and British poets, as well as providing numerous opportunities for cross-cultural discussions. Indeed, as the slogan ‘WORDS IN ACTION’ may suggest, SLOVO is not just about the written word. Film also plays an important part in this year’s festival. SLOVO will hold the first ever screening of Russian underground video poetry in the UK and the London premiere of Aliona Van der Horst’s hauntingly beautiful film on poet Boris Ryzhy. SLOVO’s broad spectrum of events will be held across several venues, Waterstones Piccadilly, Waterstones Hampstead, The Calvert 22 Gallery and the Apollo cinema. Come and join us for this un-missable chance to witness literature in transition!

Interpreting for the Russian guests at the LBF and SLOVO festival For those interested in offering their professional translation skills during the London Book Fair and the SLOVO festival, ACADEMIA ROSSICA will have a series of events and seminars where interpreters will be needed in order for Russian and UK guests to communicate with each other. This is an excellent opportunity for professional translators to play an involved and encouraging role in the development of future publishing projects that will lead to the further promotion and distribution of Russian literature in the English speaking world. To register as an interpreter, please contact Rodrigo@academia-rossica.org by 15th April.

Мы благодарим всех, кто принял участие в Конкурсе издателей, организованном совместно фондом Academia Rossica, Британским Советом, Лондонской книжной ярмаркой и Федеральным Агентством по печати и массовым коммуникациям. Конкурс издателей – элемент программы мероприятий по подготовке к участию России в качестве почетного гостя на Лондонской книжной ярмарке 2011.