“Literature: a tribute to fashion or an urgent need”: in Minsk talked about modern reading

The creative meeting in the format of an open dialogue between the generations of the two countries ended in the Russian House in Minsk on October 17. About literature as an urgent need, about the beauty of the word and statistics of publications - in the material of the correspondent of the agency "Minsk-Novosti".

Writers, poets, playwrights, editors of leading publications, students of creative specialties and other writers from Belarus and Russia gathered in a place of honor in the center of the capital. Participants discussed topical issues of modern literature, its role in society and interest in reading among young people.

The theme of the meeting was “Literature today: a pressing necessity, a tribute to fashion, a hobby or a tradition”. Young writers listened attentively to the speeches of the speakers, and then boldly entered into the discussion.

- This is a conversation that does not end and is conducted at all times. Today it is also about what a person is, why he needs culture. Culture exists among peoples, and its basis is the word. All forms of art are somehow connected with the word, because they are arranged according to similar principles. Disgrace in art is an expression of evil and hatred, which are reflected in prose and poetry. Beauty, on the other hand, expresses love and goodness. If harmony is disturbed, art loses its main task, because first of all it is designed to create balance and beauty, Vladislav Artyomov, poet, prose writer and editor-in-chief of the Moscow literary magazine, emphasized.

The organizers conducted a blitz survey, discussed book fashion and readership trends, voiced statistics of the most popular authors and publications and tried to find out what causes the modern preferences of the public.

At the meeting, it was noted that fewer books were printed in Russia. According to the Russian Book Chamber, in the first quarter of 2023, the number of new titles decreased by 13%, their circulation by 23%, the circulation of reprints by 28%, and translated literature by 27%.

In 2025, Belarus produced 7,137 titles of books and brochures with a total circulation of 18,198 thousand copies. According to sociological studies for 2026, 83.6% of Belarusians still prefer paper format. However, interest in electronic and audio books is growing.

A student of the Faculty of Journalism of BSU Polina Grebneva admitted that she was fond of reading only about ten months ago. During this time, she bought and received about 30 books. It all began with foreign classics, which the girl read on the university program, and then the interest spread to modern literature.

My favorite authors were Rita Hoffman with her dark fantasy and Mark Kachim with detectives. I read mostly printed books. I like to feel the paper in my hands, flip pages, concentrate on the large format of the text, Grebneva said.

Lecturer of the Faculty of Journalism of BSU Irina Lebedeva noted that literature is once again becoming a popular way to spend leisure time, and young people are interested in a variety of areas.

- In my opinion, anything that helps to overcome ignorance is good. Our students are future journalists, not pure philologists, but they try to learn new things and are interested in literature. I think today’s speeches show that interest in it is really great, said I. Lebedeva.

Not all students can read as much as they would like. Ivan admitted that he now turns to books mainly out of necessity.

There is not enough free time, so sometimes it is easier to see something than read it. However, as a child I was a keen reader, because my mother is a teacher of Russian language and literature. The house always had a lot of books, and my favorites were “Amphibian Man” and “The Head of Professor Dowell” by Alexander Belyaev.

In the end, most modern Belarusian and Russian writers turn to literary creativity out of love for art, to which, of course, the artistic word also refers. As Leo Tolstoy noted in his diary of October 19, 1909, “If you write, it is only when you cannot help writing.”.

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