The winners of the “Poet of the Year” and “Writer of the Year” awards were announced in Moscow; they will have the opportunity to publish a book with their works at the expense of the organizing committee. This was announced on Saturday, March 20, by a TASS correspondent.
“In 2020, the number of nominees for the“ Poet of the Year ”and“ Writer of the Year ”awards increased and amounted to over 5 thousand people. This was due to the pandemic: people were at home on self-isolation and engaged in literary work. The short list of awards included 200 poets and 100 writers, this year there are a lot of strong authors, which is confirmed by the high marks of the jury, ”the agency quotes the words of the head of the Russian Union of Writers Dmitry Kravchuk.
According to the jury’s decision, the Poet of the Year prize was awarded to Arseny Zagayevsky (Second Letter), Oksana Tsvetkova (Halfway, Solntsevorot) and Igor Gonokhov (Whistle, Five, Country Strophes).
The winners of the Writer of the Year award are Max Zimov (The Life of the Cloak), Alexander Valt (The Cannon) and Oleg Ponomarev (Kolyunya Miserable).
Yuri Kublanovsky and Sergei Shargunov were awarded the Grand Prix for “the most significant Russian poet and prose writer in terms of total merit”.
On January 29, Izvestia reported that the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media would be involved in preparing proposals for state support for writers and publishers. It is the Ministry of Digital Science that is now in charge of the issues that previously belonged to the sphere of responsibility of the liquidated Rospechat. The Ministry of Culture noted that they are ready to assist colleagues if they seek advice, and supports the very idea of developing such a program.