Around 600 delegates will take part in the congress of the Union of Belarusian Writers.

About 600 delegates will take part in the congress of the Union of Writers of Belarus today in Minsk, the Chairman of the Union of Writers of Belarus, Nikolai Cherginets, told a correspondent.

Colleagues from Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Serbia, and other countries will be guests of the Congress of Belarusian Writers – about 20 representatives of the writing profession from abroad in total.

At the forum, writers will summarize the results of their work over the past five years and outline plans for the next 5 years. An interested discussion and a thorough consideration of the issues facing writers are expected. Among the topical issues, the Chairman of the Union of Writers of Belarus mentioned the need to develop children's literature, as it plays an important role in the upbringing of the younger generation.

The focus will be on the development of prose, poetry, and the genre diversity of literature. Nikolai Cherginets noted that detective and historical literature are actively published in Belarus. The theme of the Great Patriotic War remains important from the perspective of showing the heroism of the Soviet people and from the perspective of preventing similar conflicts.

The Chairman of the Union of Writers of Belarus added that Belarusian writers have managed to break the silence surrounding the song genre. Many good songs are undeservedly forgotten today, he believes. But contemporary authors also write worthy works that can be performed and in demand by the public. Examples of this are new musical works written in creative union by poet Ivan Yurkin and composer Oleg Eliseenkov, performed by Anatoly Yarmolenko. This topic requires continuation and development, Nikolai Cherginets is convinced.

Special attention should be paid to school literature, he believes. It is necessary to include books in the repertoire of works for young readers that correspond to the spirit of the times and the life of the country. And this topic will be the subject of a serious discussion.

The congress will also discuss the establishment of a criticism institute. Work in this area should be built on a professional basis. "Sometimes offensive accusations are made against us that writers receive awards almost based on someone's interests. There is a proposal not to include members of the Union of Writers in the jury of literary competitions, so that the decision to award the prize does not cause misinterpretation," said Nikolai Cherginets.

In addition, the Chairman of the Union of Writers of Belarus believes that it is necessary to increase the number of competitions and conferences for novice writers, as this will contribute to their faster professional growth and creative development.

The Union of Writers proposes to develop a mechanism for protecting Belarusian literature in the book market. The Belarusian book cannot withstand price competition, and in this situation, it is necessary to take certain measures, for example, by introducing deductions from the sales of foreign literature.

News of Belarus (BELTA)