Academia Rossica and the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication invite you to take part in a competition to think up a slogan for the Russian stand and for the Russia Market Focus programme at the London Book Fair 2010.
We need your help to come up with a biright, contemporary and effective slogan which will place Russian literature and the Russian publishing industry at one of the most prestigious international publishing forums. The slogan will be used at the Russian stand on all marketing material - press releases, brochures, banners, etc.

4th Russian Film Festival, 29 October – 7 November Dear Friends! The Russian Film Festival is getting ready to present London with this year's best premieres in Russian cinema. The Main Programme As always, the main festival programme showcases the best Russian films, award-winners at major international and Russian film festivals. These films include, 'Silent Souls' (Ovsyanki), directed by Alexei Fedorchenko and winner of three prizes at the Venice Film Festival, 'How I Ended This Summer' by Alexei Popogrebsky, awarded prizes for best actor and best cinematography at the Berlinale, 'One War' by Vera Glagoleva, Grand Prix winner at Sofia International Film Festival and Russia's nomination for the Oscars and Svetlana Proscurina's latest film 'The Truce', winner of the main prize at Kinotavr. As in previous years, guests include directors, producers and actors who come to London specially to present their films at the festival. Documentaries – 'Noughties Art' This year's documentary programme sums up the last decade with screenings of the ten best Russian documentary films, one for each year. The programme is presented by the great director and documentary maker, Vitaly Mansky, president of the ArtDocFest. Animation Alongside the main programme and documentaries, we have also put together a comprehensive and diverse programme of animation. As part of our festival 'Astral dogs Belka and Strelka' take a trip to outer space captained by director Inna Evlannikova, while Irina Evteeva, famous for her graceful and original style, brings 'Little Tragedies' to the screen. These films will capture the hearts of adults and childen alike. As well as an extensive programme of full length animation, we will be screening a special programme for our young audiences, presenting the best of award-winning Russian animated films of recent years Special Screenings This year's film festival also includes a retrospective of the great actor and director Sergei Bondarchuk's films and the works of Leo Tolstoy on film, as well as a retrospective of masters of Soviet and Russian animation. Venue For the fourth year in a row the Russian Film Festival will take place at the Apollo Piccadilly, one of London's best cinemas.

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 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.

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.

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.

The Debut Prize was instituted in 2000 by State Duma Deputy Andrei Skoch, creator of the humanitarian foundation Pokolenie (Generation). Skoch originally conceived of Pokolenie as a medical charity to help provincial Russian clinics, sick children and pensioners. The Debut, Pokolenie’s only cultural project to date, has become a prize of national renown. The Debut has a strict age limit: entrants may not be over the age of 25. Members of the Russian literary establishment were skeptical at first. They doubted that writers so young would have something to say to readers. Young writers might try their hand at poetry, they argued, but they didn’t have enough life experience to write a story or a novel. However, the Debut has shown that a person’s life experience at any age is complete in and of itself. What a person knows about the world at 20 has been forgotten by the time he is 30. What he could have written at 20 he will no longer write at 30. He will write something else. Strangely enough, most writers live without their first book: it remains in their minds, in drafts. The Debut inspires young Russian writers to complete that first book. The Debut prompts them to commit to literature their unique experience, what might be described as the shock of their first encounter with grown-up life. Not just their new existential status, but daily events. Suddenly a person is faced with bank applications, having to pay rent and buy insurance; no one will fill out the forms for him, no one will answer for him. And he suddenly feels horribly alone in the world. This sort of loneliness, like any other, has a huge creative potential. The Debut brings in the first literary harvest of the writing generation — and it does so every year. 2010 marks the first year of Debut’s international program. Funded by Pokolenie, the program aims to present the works of Debut finalists and winners to the foreign reader. Collections of these works will be translated and their authors will be sent to international book fairs and festivals. This year’s collection appears in English and Chinese. Future collections will be brought out in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and so on. Since the number of Debut finalists and winners is only increasing, as is their level and mastery, publication of their works in English will continue.

Maria Galina is one of the most interesting authors among those who made their names in the turbulent 1990s. She writes both literary and science fiction (with ten SF books to her credit). She is also a noted poet, a thoughtful critic, and translator of English and American science fiction, in all of which she excels. She is a winner of many important prizes for her prose and poetry and her critical essays.

Maria Galina is one of the most interesting authors among those who made their names in the turbulent 1990s. She writes both literary and science fiction (with ten SF books to her credit). She is also a noted poet, a thoughtful critic, and translator of English and American science fiction, in all of which she excels. She is a winner of many important prizes for her prose and poetry and her critical essays.

Now in its second year, the Rossica Young Translators Prize is hard on the heels of the success of the main Rossica Prize. Through this prize we would like to encourage young people under 25 who are passionate about Russia, literature and translation to enter into the world of professional literary translation. We hope that this award will help to nurture a new generation of Russian to English literary translators, as well as further cultural dialogue between Russia and the English-speaking world. The Winner will be announced on 21 April at the London Book Fair. The winning translator will receive £500 and the opportunity to travel to Moscow to take part in a Translators' Congress in September 2010. All shortlisted translators will be invited to a special programme of events at the London Book Fair and introduced to writers and publishers. If you would like to take part in this competition, please translate one of the three extracts in this brochure. They are taken from new novels written by Russia’s foremost contemporary novelists: Leonid Yuzefovich’s “Журавли и карлики”, Mikhail Shishkin’s “Письмовник”, and Viktor Pelevin's "t". The deadline for submission is 1 April. The translations will be judged by prominent translators and winners of the Rossica Prize – Robert Chandler, Amanda Love Darragh and Oliver Ready. It is an exciting opportunity for young translators to enter into the professional world of literary translation.

In order to prepare Russia’s participation as Market Focus Country two steering committees have been set up - in London and in Moscow. The first London steering committee was held at the Russian Embassy in London on 9 November 2009. It was chaired by Mr Alistair Burtenshaw, Director of The London Book Fair.

When Academia Rossica approached me to serve on the jury for their translation prize, I was excited and intrigued. What would the field be like, how many entries would there be, were there still publishers around in the West willing to produce translations of serious Russian works? The classics apart, was there more to Russian literature for English-speaking people than penguins and historical detectives? My caricature of the average Western reader's view of Russian literature today can perhaps be excused in part by my own education.

Maria Galina is one of the most interesting authors among those who made their names in the turbulent 1990s. She writes both literary and science fiction (with ten SF books to her credit). She is also a noted poet, a thoughtful critic, and translator of English and American science fiction, in all of which she excels. She is a winner of many important prizes for her prose and poetry and her critical essays.

Maria Galina is one of the most interesting authors among those who made their names in the turbulent 1990s. She writes both literary and science fiction (with ten SF books to her credit). She is also a noted poet, a thoughtful critic, and translator of English and American science fiction, in all of which she excels. She is a winner of many important prizes for her prose and poetry and her critical essays.

Mario has published numerous poetry books and pamphlets, including: Shrapnel and Sheets, Bosco, Heavy Water, Half Life, Fearnought (poems for Southwell Workhouse), along with translations of Catullus, Sappho and Montale. Lepidoptera is a hybrid book of long poetry and short prose, while his illustrated collection The Stamina of Sheep (the unique result of an innovative public and educational arts project for Havering, the Thames and Essex) captured the Essex Book Award for Best Fiction Publication (2000-2002). Flowers of Sulphur was published in 2007. Mario is currently working on two further collections, Monte Cassino and i tulips.

Maria Galina is one of the most interesting authors among those who made their names in the turbulent 1990s. She writes both literary and science fiction (with ten SF books to her credit). She is also a noted poet, a thoughtful critic, and translator of English and American science fiction, in all of which she excels. She is a winner of many important prizes for her prose and poetry and her critical essays.

Maria Galina is one of the most interesting authors among those who made their names in the turbulent 1990s. She writes both literary and science fiction (with ten SF books to her credit). She is also a noted poet, a thoughtful critic, and translator of English and American science fiction, in all of which she excels. She is a winner of many important prizes for her prose and poetry and her critical essays.

by Victor Pelevin
Translated by Marina Wright
Published as part of the magazine ‘London Miscellany’ May 2007; pp.8
The first ever winner of the Russian Little Booker Prize, Victor Pelevin is one of the most prominent writers in Russian today. Since his debut, Pelevin's work continues to develop in adventurous ways. In his latest translated offering Akiko, a victim's obsession with an online porn site devolves into a losing pas de deux with a computer-generated concubine and her monkey Mao.

by Various
Translated by Various
Dalkey Archive Press; 2007; pp. 471
Prominent Moscow poet Evgeny Bunimovich selected representative work from forty-four living Russian poets born after 1945 to be translated and published in this bilingual edition. The collection ranges from the mordant post-Soviet irony of Igor Irteniev to the fresh voices of poets like Marianna Geide and Anna Russ—young women just beginning to make themselves heard.

Monday, 14 April, 7 pm
Royal Society of Literature, Courtauld Institute, Somerset House, Strand
Dmitry Bykov, winner of the Big Book prize, speaks about his new biography of Boris Pasternak and life in Stalin’s Russia. Elaine Feinstein and Professors Jon Stallworthy and Angela Livingstone speak about their own involvement with Pasternak over many years. (£5 donation)
In Russian and English

Monday, 14 April, 8 pm
Waterstone’s Piccadilly, 5th Floor, 8 pm, FREE
Discovering brilliant new writing in Russia’s expanses. Speakers: Olga Slavnikova, winner of the Russian Booker Prize 2006, Natalia Ivanova, literary critic, Irina Prokhorova, NLO publisher, Ravil Bukharaev, BBC correspondent, poet and translator, and Alexander Gavrilov, editor in chief of the “Knizhnoe obozrenie” (Book Review)
In Russian and English

Tuesday, 15 April, 6.30 pm
Waterstone’s Piccadilly, 5th Floor, £3
Prize-winning writer James Meek discusses the blessings and dangers of literary prizes with 4 Russian prize-winning writers: Dmitry Bykov, winner of the Big Book prize 2007, Alexander Ilichevsky, winner of the Russian Booker Prize 2007, Olga Slavnikova, winner of the Russian Booker Prize 2006, and Lev Rubinstein, winner of the Andrei Bely Prize.
In English and Russian

Tuesday, 15 April, 8 pm
Waterstone’s Piccadilly, 5th Floor, FREE
Lev Rubinstein, winner of the prestigious Andrey Bely Prize (1 rouble and a bottle of vodka), poet and writer, in conversation with Zinovy Zinik, London-based writer and BBC broadcaster In English and Russian

Wednesday, 16 April, 6.30 pm
Waterstone’s Piccadilly, 5th Floor, £3
Orlando Figes, historian and award winning writer, discusses his latest book “The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia” with Alexander Ilichevsky, winner of the Russian Booker Prize 2007 and editor of radio “Svoboda”
In English and Russian

The fist first winner of Rossica Prize, Translator, Research fellow in Wolfson College, Oxford

The winner of Russian Booker Prize 2006. Director of “Debut” Prize. Grew up in Yekaterinburg in the Urals where she majored in journalism. A literary editor and critic, Slavnikova is the author of three widely acclaimed novels: A Dragon-fly the Size of a Dog, short-listed for the Russian Booker Prize (1997); Alone in the Mirror, short-listed for the Anti-Booker and winner of the Pavel Bazhov Prize; and Immortal, awarded the Critics' Academy Apollon Grigoriev Prize and short-listed for both the Belkin Prize and the National Bestseller Prize.

Interpreting Russia
This issue is dedicated to the short-listed finalists and the Winner of the first Rossica Prize.

Interpreting Russia
This issue is dedicated to the short-listed finalists and the Winner of the first Rossica Prize.

Tuesday, 15 April, 8 pm
Waterstone’s Piccadilly, 5th Floor, FREE
Lev Rubinstein, winner of the prestigious Andrey Bely Prize (1 rouble and a bottle of vodka), poet and writer, in conversation with Zinovy Zinik, London-based writer and BBC broadcaster In English and Russian

Wednesday, 16 April, 6.30 pm
Waterstone’s Piccadilly, 5th Floor, £3
Orlando Figes, historian and award winning writer, discusses his latest book “The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia” with Alexander Ilichevsky, winner of the Russian Booker Prize 2007 and editor of radio “Svoboda”
In English and Russian

Monday, 14 April, 7 pm
Royal Society of Literature, Courtauld Institute, Somerset House, Strand
Dmitry Bykov, winner of the Big Book prize, speaks about his new biography of Boris Pasternak and life in Stalin’s Russia. Elaine Feinstein and Professors Jon Stallworthy and Angela Livingstone speak about their own involvement with Pasternak over many years. (£5 donation)
In Russian and English

Monday, 14 April, 8 pm
Waterstone’s Piccadilly, 5th Floor, 8 pm, FREE
Discovering brilliant new writing in Russia’s expanses. Speakers: Olga Slavnikova, winner of the Russian Booker Prize 2006, Natalia Ivanova, literary critic, Irina Prokhorova, NLO publisher, Ravil Bukharaev, BBC correspondent, poet and translator, and Alexander Gavrilov, editor in chief of the “Knizhnoe obozrenie” (Book Review)
In Russian and English

Tuesday, 15 April, 6.30 pm
Waterstone’s Piccadilly, 5th Floor, £3
Prize-winning writer James Meek discusses the blessings and dangers of literary prizes with 4 Russian prize-winning writers: Dmitry Bykov, winner of the Big Book prize 2007, Alexander Ilichevsky, winner of the Russian Booker Prize 2007, Olga Slavnikova, winner of the Russian Booker Prize 2006, and Lev Rubinstein, winner of the Andrei Bely Prize.
In English and Russian

The winner of Russian Booker Prize 2006. Director of “Debut” Prize. Grew up in Yekaterinburg in the Urals where she majored in journalism. A literary editor and critic, Slavnikova is the author of three widely acclaimed novels: A Dragon-fly the Size of a Dog, short-listed for the Russian Booker Prize (1997); Alone in the Mirror, short-listed for the Anti-Booker and winner of the Pavel Bazhov Prize; and Immortal, awarded the Critics' Academy Apollon Grigoriev Prize and short-listed for both the Belkin Prize and the National Bestseller Prize.