Verbally, period: what to go to the Red Square Book Festival for

About 400 publishing houses from all over the country were united by the XII Red Square Book Festival, which started on June 4 in the very center of Moscow. By the end of the week, guests will be able to visit 15 themed areas that stretch from the Historical Museum to St. Basil's Cathedral. Among the novelties are the historical comic book "The Legend of Sorg", the ironic detective story by Daria Dontsova "The Nerd on a Fishing Trip", "The Last Case of Major Chistov" by Evgeny Vodolazkin, and the autobiography of Shura. For more information about what to hunt for at the fair, see the Izvestia article.

Publisher exclusives: what to look for on the shelves

The official start of the festival was marked by a large-scale musical and literary program on the Main Stage, where book readers gathered in the morning. This year's opening was timed to coincide with a landmark cultural anniversary — the 120th anniversary of the birth of the great composer Dmitry Shostakovich. The maestro's masterpieces were performed by a Chamber Orchestra conducted by Yuri Bashmet, who set the mood for the Red Square.

Leading publishing houses have brought new products that have just come out of print shops and have not yet had time to get used to critical reviews. The pavilions feature Katya Kachur's mystical saga "The Copy of Faith", which tells about the fatal secrets of artists and their paintings.

Fans of monumental texts should pay attention to the latest reissue of the Edward Verkin trilogy "Snark snark". Writer Oleg Roy will present a large-scale historical comic strip "The Legend of Sorg", dedicated to the famous Soviet intelligence officer. Among the biographical novelties is the memoirs of the 1990s star Alexander Medvedev "Shura. Laughter and tears" about the underside of Russian pop music.

There is less psychological literature at the festival. Now Russian folklore is in fashion. A visual rarity has been prepared for fans of illustrated publications on Red Square — a large-scale album "GZHEL. Russian craft of the XVIII–XXI century", revealing the history of the craft. It is accompanied by Fyodor Panfilov's study "Fantastic Russia. From kikimore romanticism to Slavic cyberpunk".

There is a demand for science fiction, but there are not enough strong authors: new, young writers do not appear, experienced ones have switched to fantasy, experts explain.

— About "popadants" (heroes who move to other eras and worlds. — Ed.) it's easier to write, — says literary critic Oleg Fochkin. — Real science fiction should be created by people from science. Sergey Volkov and Yuri Burnosov, unfortunately, have gone into screenwriting. In my opinion, we are losing the genre because of this, although a similar crisis is currently being observed all over the world.

Representatives of publishing houses celebrate the boom of science fiction in China. Manga came to us from the East. This literature lies alongside popular comics. Teenagers were interested in "Mob Psycho 100", "Spy × Family: Spy Family", "My reincarnation in the otome game as the main villain".

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Main names

You can spend the whole day on the Red Square, and meet a famous writer at the bookshelf. The educational palette of the event includes more than 500 events, including discussions and meetings with authors — the masters of Russian prose and the poetic front will present their new texts.

Eduard Verkin will hold a public talk on June 5 dedicated to the release of the large-scale novel "Snark Snark". In the tent of the Writers' Union of Russia, fans of Russian history will be able to chat with Vladimir Medinsky. The writer Alexander Prokhanov will present a large-scale poem "The Angel of Novorossiya", which he himself illustrated. In the musical fairy tale "An Ordinary Miracle", actress Victoria Isakova will perform accompanied by a symphony orchestra.

On June 6, Russian Language Day will be celebrated on a grand scale on Red Square. Actress Polina Agureeva and artists of the capital's theaters will open traditional Pushkin readings. On the same day, the tenth anniversary ceremony of awarding the literary prize "Lyceum" named after A. S. Pushkin will take place on the Main Stage. In addition, Alexandra Marinina will talk about how the legendary Nastya Kamenskaya appeared. Yuri Polyakov will discuss the theme "Writer and Time" with fans, and People's Artist of Russia Evgeny Knyazev will present a solo performance "Boris Godunov is 200 years old."

June 7 is the final day of the book marathon. Daria Dontsova presents the ironic detective story "A Nerd on a fishing trip." Famous teacher, popularizer of science and blogger Peter Zemskov is waiting for young guests at the interactive show "Mathematics and magic tricks". For an adult audience, there will be a meeting with Sergey Shargunov, who will present the new novel "Popovich". And People's Artist of Russia and TV presenter Leonid Yakubovich will make his debut on Red Square with his poetry collection "The Day of Everything in the World." The main event of the evening on the Main Stage will be the presentation of Evgeny Vodolazkin's new book "The Last Case of Major Chistov". And People's Artist of Russia Svetlana Kryuchkova will perform a large poetic program.

Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the Hermitage Museum, will give a lecture on "Secrets of the Silk Road" at the Museum Line in GUM. The closing concert will be the final musical and poetic chord of the festival, combining literature, music and theatrical art. It is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after A. S. Pushkin.