A week of commemorative events, "On the Path of Life," dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the birth of Vasil Bykov, People's Writer of Belarus, begins today in his small homeland, Ushačy District, as reported to a BELTA correspondent by the local district executive committee.
The main venues for the events will be the agro-town of Kubličy, the village of Byčki, and the district center of Ušačy. Throughout the week, exhibitions on the life and work of the renowned writer will be held, a district competition of vocal ensembles will take place, and films about the work of their fellow countryman will be shown. At the Kubličy Library, participants of the "Literary Drawing Room" will discuss Vasil Bykov's approach to the theme of war in his works.
On the writer's birthday, June 19, a concert program with a theatrical production of the novella "The Sign of Misfortune" will be organized in his native village of Byčki, along with excursions to the museum-estate.
Vasil Bykov was a Belarusian writer, public figure, and participant in the Great Patriotic War. He was born on June 19, 1924, in the village of Byčki, Ušačy District, into a peasant family. In his novellas, the writer depicted war through the prism of human experience, their moral choices in the most dramatic moments of life. He gained widespread recognition after the publication of the novella "The Third Rocket." Vasil Bykov was a laureate of the USSR State Prize (1974) and the BSSR State Prize (1978), Hero of Socialist Labour (1984), People's Writer of Belarus (1980), and a laureate of the Lenin Prize (1986). The writer died on June 22, 2003, and is buried in the Eastern Cemetery in Minsk.