Russian literary festival on next week

The Colombo Russian House and the Russian Literary Circle has invited all Russian literature enthusiasts to participate in the Russian Literary Festival which will take place on December 17, 2024, at 3:00 PM in the Auditorium of the Russian House in Colombo.

This year, the festival celebrates the 225th birth anniversary of Alexander Pushkin and the 100th birth anniversaries of Soviet writers Vladimir Bogomolov and Yuri Bondarev. 

These revered Russian writers are well-known among Sinhala readers and Vladimir Bogomolov is particularly popular for his novel 'Ivan', while Yuri Bondarev is celebrated for his work 'Hot Snow'.

Selected scenes from Andrei Tarkovsky's film 'Ivan's Childhood'and Gavril Egiazarov's film 'Hot Snow', both with Sinhala subtitles, will also be screened at the festival.

The activities have been organized to provide a brief introduction to Russian works that have been translated into Sinhala, Tamil, and English in Sri Lanka over the past year. 

A book exhibition featuring translations of Soviet-Russian literature will also accompany the event. Additionally, Soviet writer Denis Dragunsky will be introduced to Sinhala readers for the first time.

The keynote address, titled “Soviet War Literature and Cinema: Patriotism, Humanity, Determination, and Love”, will be delivered by Dr.Sunil Wijesiriwardena, a distinguished literary scholar.

Irina Evina, a prominent researcher on Russian literature, will give a guest lecture on “Pushkin: From Fighter and Lover to Founder of Modern Russian Language and Literature.”