International book exhibition “Non/fiction (Non-fiction)”

The 24th Fair of Intellectual Literature this year is located in the halls of Gostiny Dvor. Non-Fiction is over 300 publishing houses, more than 100 interesting lectures, 400 different events for all ages and 13,000 new books from all over the world, as well as the Science Pavilion, opened for the first time.

Foreign publishing houses do not take part this year, but this has its own plus: all attention will be focused on domestic literature. The project is slowly but surely turning to the East – business guests from China and Iran are expected at the fair.

The International Fair of Intellectual Literature opened simply and with dignity – without cutting ribbons and dancing to the soundtrack. Readers immediately rushed to study the top lists of the fair, which have become a long tradition of the show and an assistant to book lovers: here are all the best published in 2022. This time there are four of them – “Adult Literature”, “Children’s Literature”, “Comics” and “Special Childhood” (here are books for children and adolescents, in which the characters are people, animals and other creatures with different health limitations and difficulties in communication).

A significant part of the space was occupied by the first presented exposition “Science”. The books presented in the stylish pavilion are dedicated to the achievements of Russian scientists. The time coverage is great: almost 150 years of continuous development of domestic science! Here are the greatest theoretical discoveries, remarkable technical inventions, brilliant medical operations, space exploration and discoveries of paleontologists, the conquest of the atom, revolutionary approaches to the study of the human brain, physiology and psychology, as well as breakthrough solutions in the field of aviation and military equipment. And inside the stand you can listen to scientific and popular science lectures prepared by the Polytechnic Museum.

The book fair even presents Comic Book Day on December 4, and a rich program has been specially thought out for it. Among the novelties are graphic novels about Alexander Nevsky “Alexander Yaroslavich. Heroic epic”, “Mayakovsky. How to make poetry” and Varvara Ledneva’s book “Journey to Kola” from the series “Diary of a traveler in Russia in drawings”.

Young book lovers are not forgotten either: a special space has been created for children where they can listen to stories with their ears on a special tube, and also, armed with a huge roller, color a book novelty right on the screen. The children’s program “Territory of Knowledge” is traditionally a platform for the presentation of new publishing projects. On the unusual site “Books on Pillows”, everyone can personally participate in the longest continuous reading of fairy tales of the peoples of the Russian Federation, and you can read fairy tales while relaxing on huge pillows. Let’s go for a fabulous record!

In general, the program of the fair includes more than 300 events that will be held at nine venues located in the atrium of Gostiny Dvor, as well as at the participants’ stands. The speakers will be well-known prose writers, poets, playwrights, publicists, illustrators, translators, literary critics, scientists and popularizers of science, teachers, cinematographers and film critics, travelers, public and cultural figures. Meetings and open discussions are planned with the authors, including Evgeny Vodolazkin, Alexandra Marinina, Reza Negarestani, Eduard Verkin, Sergey Zotov, Vera Bogdanova, Leah Steffi, Alexander Auzan, Slava Polunin, Asya Lavrinovich, Antonina Krein, Alexander Bon, Pavel Basinsky, and even the legendary Gennady Onishchenko! A well-known epidemiologist will talk at a book fair about proper nutrition. Within the framework of the exhibition, there will even be a fair of vinyl records, CD / DVD and vintage equipment, where there will be, in particular, shellac discs for gramophones released in the first half of the 20th century.

A real full house happened at the presentation of the book “I. A. Antonova. About myself, the museum, art…”, consisting of stories, memoirs and speeches by the legendary director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the publication of which is timed to coincide with the centenary. The book was presented by the director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Marina Loshak and the author Natalya Kolesova. “Yesterday it was two years since Irina Alexandrovna left us,” Marina Loshak remarked, “the book is her greetings to us. No wonder they wanted to call the book “Irina Antonova in the first person.” Her voice sounds here, her intonation, her presence is very palpable. We live in a time when there are not enough idols. And it’s not for nothing that there are so many people here today. Irina Alexandrovna will gather an audience around her for a long time to come.” Director of the Department of State Support for the Periodical Press and Book Industry Vladimir Grigoriev noted: “Everything that comes out under the brand name of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is of the highest quality. Artistic and smart. Irina Alexandrovna created an amazing world around herself and made all her colleagues live in it. It cost nothing for her to drive a car to the last, to fly around the world. The strongest of this world were looking for her friendship. This two-volume book is not just a memory of her, but a huge scientific contribution to museum work. Thanks to Natalya Kolesova for collecting these fragments of Antonova’s memories.”

During the days of the book review, the international association of charitable foundations MAMA, together with the organizing committee of the fair, will organize an action in Gostiny Dvor to collect books for libraries and educational institutions of Donbass. To donate books to help Donbass, you need to contact the information desk of the organizers in the Atrium of Gostiny Dvor, at the entrance to the main exposition.

So it’s not true that we’ve stopped reading. People read, and how actively they read! I remember the enthusiastic eyes of a young book lover, who happily pressed a stack of new books to his chest, clearly in anticipation of the triumph of intellect!

Mikhail Kovalyov.

Photo of the author.