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.'

I see Russia’s future in the brightest of hues. Admittedly, this sort of statement does not befit a dystopian writer like me, who is supposed to make dire predictions, though for some what I am going to tell you will sound as bad as an anti-utopia (while I see it as an almost ideal outcome).

I see Russia’s future in the brightest of hues. Admittedly, this sort of statement does not befit a dystopian writer like me, who is supposed to make dire predictions, though for some what I am going to tell you will sound as bad as an anti-utopia (while I see it as an almost ideal outcome).

by Various
Translated by Oleg Burkov, Larissa Fomenko, Andrei Konstantinov, Nika Skandiaka, Lika Sokolovskaya and Vitaliy Eyber
Smokestack Books; 2007; pp.83
This anthology brings together, for the first time in English, a selection of contemporary poetry from Novosibirsk, Siberia's largest city and the exact geographical centre of Russia. Writing about their extraordinary country, they have adapted Russian literary traditions to its exceptional conditions.

Vladimir Grigoriev is Councillor to 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.' Born in 1958, Vladimir Grigoriev worked as an editor for the Novosti news agency from 1982 to 1990, after which he founded and headed the publishing house Vagrius. Vladimir Grigoriev has worked unflaggingly to promote and support the publication of Russian books and the protection of authorial rights during the difficult, transitional period from the old publishing protocol inherited from the former Soviet Union to the establishment of a new, market-oriented, internationally recognized modus operandi. He has been honoured with prizes in recognition of his work for services to Russian publishing and the dissemination of literature and culture not only in the Russian Federation (2001), but also in Poland (2005) and in France (2006). Grigoriev is also one of the founders of the prestigious book prize ‘Bolshaia kniga' (‘Big Book') - the second largest cash award, after the Nobel Prize. His unique insights into the increasingly buoyant and expanding market for Russian books makes him an extremely interesting and valuable speaker.

Rumiantsev’s Arc – Library of a Nation
If the book lies at the heart of Russian culture, then the most vital, life-preserving institution in Russian culture is the library. This issue of ROSSICA focuses on the remarkable history and collections of Russia’s largest library: originally called the Rumiantsev Museum, later the Lenin Library (Leninka) it is now the Russian State Library.

Rumiantsev’s Arc – Library of a Nation
If the book lies at the heart of Russian culture, then the most vital, life-preserving institution in Russian culture is the library. This issue of ROSSICA focuses on the remarkable history and collections of Russia’s largest library: originally called the Rumiantsev Museum, later the Lenin Library (Leninka) it is now the Russian State Library.

Vladimir Grigoriev is Councillor to 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.' Born in 1958, Vladimir Grigoriev worked as an editor for the Novosti news agency from 1982 to 1990, after which he founded and headed the publishing house Vagrius.