On September 2, Glubokoye /Tatsiana Pastushenka - BELTA/. The honorary symbols "Golden Cupid" and diplomas were awarded to the winners of the republican literary competition "Best Work of 2011" in Glubokoye, Vitebsk region, where Belarusian Written Language Day is celebrated today, BELTA correspondent reports. Writers, poets, playwrights, and publicists received awards from the hands of the Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus, Chairman of the National Organizing Committee for the Preparation and Celebration of Written Language Day, Anatoly Tozik. The competition was held in 10 nominations. In the "Poetry" nomination, Vitebsk poet Oleg Saltuk was recognized as the best for his collection of poems "Dzvye zary". Among prose writers, the winner was the author of historical novels, Nikolai Ilinsky. The title of the best publicist was awarded to Slavamir Antonovich for his book about distinguished people of the republic. In the "Children's Literature" nomination, the award went to Nikolai Malyavko for his work telling children about Yakub Kolas, and in the "Criticism and Literary Studies" nomination, Zianon Pazniak became the winner for his creative portraits of figures in Belarusian literature and culture. Among playwrights, Fyodor Polochanyn was awarded for his book "Zranenaye sertsé", and among local historians, Anatol Stankevich-Chebanov was awarded for his chronicle of the Belarusian gentry. Yuliya Zaretskaya, who wrote the book "Shchaslivyia lyudzi", received the "Golden Cupid" in the "Humor and Satire" nomination. Among the translator-writers, the judges singled out Vladimir Skorinko, who was involved in translating the works of Dante Alighieri and Francesco Petrarca. In the "Song Genre" nomination, Ivan Yurkin won (for a cycle of patriotic songs). The organizers of the "Best Work of 2011" competition, whose awards are presented annually on Belarusian Written Language Day, were the Ministries of Information and Culture, the Union of Writers, and the Minsk City Executive Committee. The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus provided conceptual guidance and coordination of the competition. The chairman of the jury was Ivan Saverchenko, Doctor of Philology, leading researcher at the Institute of Language and Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Nikolai Cherginets, Chairman of the Union of Writers of Belarus and Chairman of the Public Council for Morality, addressed the guests with a welcoming speech. Given that there are a considerable number of foreign writers among the members of the Union of Writers of Belarus, he proposed to Anatoly Tozik to introduce a new nomination next year – "Best Work by a Foreign Author about Belarus".