THE CITY OF MOSCOW PUBLISHING PROGRAMMES AT THE LONDON BOOK FAIR 2011

 

During the celebration of Russian literature at the London Book Fair 2011 a dynamic and extensive presentation of the Publishing activities of the Moscow City Government was held at the Russian Pavilion. Here are some facts presented to the audience of the Russian Market Focus programme in London this April.

 

 

The City Publishing Programmes is a plan-based system that ensures the publication of intellectual and socially important literature and multimedia about Moscow. The project was launched with the Moscow History: from Antiquity to Nowadays Programme and a programme centred around the celebration of the 850th anniversary of Moscow in 1995-1997.

The City Publishing Programmes of Moscow are shaped by the numerous offers and applications received by the Moscow Government and the competition run by the Moscow City Committee for Telecommunications and Mass Media and the City Committee of Experts, which was set up specially for this purpose. In addition, the city can place an order to publish certain gift and jubilee editions.

The City Publishing Programmes are aimed at assisting in the issuing of diverse titles about Moscow from its foundation to the present. These editions reflect all aspects of the city's cultural, academic and social life, preserving national heritage. Furthermore, they allow people to see themselves as individuals and genuine Muscovites, whilst conserving the best traditions and succession of generations.

With this respect, utmost importance is attached to titles devoted to critical dates of Moscow history and lives of prominent Muscovites. These aim to to evoke pride and patriotism for the Homeland in the minds and souls of the young generation.
Themes of the publishing projects included into the City Programs are determined by the following key priorities:

•    patriotic literature about Moscow and Russia;
•    the history of Moscow: from antiquity to the present;
•    the lives of celebrated Muscovites;
•    Moscow and A. Pushkin;
•    Moscow in literature, painting, photography and posters;
•    modern Moscow: development, city services, economy, administration, people, life;
•    sport in Moscow;
•    religious and educational literature in the City Publishing Programmes;
•    encyclopaedic and reference literature about Moscow;
•    multimedia editions about Moscow and historic events;
•    the City Publishing Programmes for children and literature for family reading;
•    "Modem Moscow" Library Information and Publishing Project.

Since 1998, more than 1500 requests for financial support in issuing books, albums, anthologies, and multimedia editions have been received from publishing houses, authors and authors' groups, cultural institutions, public organisations and different foundations.

 

 

Offers, requests and applications received by the Moscow government are transferred to the Moscow City Committee for Telecommunications and Mass Media, who are responsible for managing the implementation of the City Publishing Programmes. Having carefully studied an application, the Committee sends it to the City Committee of Experts. It also supplies its authors with proper information on the established order of including the projects into the City Publishing Programmes and submitting the original texts and other necessary papers for the experts' appraisal.

Head of the Committee is Honorary Chairman of the Archaeographical Committee of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Education, S.O. Shmidt. Members of the Committee supervise the appraisal, in which more than 300 academic experts, writers, figures of art, culture and theatre also take part. The Committee has reported their findings on more that 600 publishing projects taken for consideration.

The Committee's findings and suggestions are discussed at the meetings of the Moscow City Publishing Council, which gives the final recommendations for the governmental support for realising the project.

The Moscow City Publishing Council coordinates the publishing programmess, guarantees the competitive selection, examines the results of the experts' appraisal of the projects and determines the necessity of putting out printed and multimedia editions of high artistic standards in line with the established priorities. It is its recommendations that ensure rational use of the budgetary means. The Council is engaged in distributing a section of issued editions on socially significant missions. Some editions are granted through the executive bodies of Moscow for acquisitions of school and public city libraries. Others are used at socially important events and book fairs. Still others are given to public organisations and editorial offices of mass media so that they can cover the activities of the Moscow government focused on the support of publishing.

Overall, more than 450 editions including historical books, belles-lettres, encyclopaedias, poetic works, dictionaries, guides, collected works, art and photo albums and multimedia matter have been released within the City Publishing Programmes since 1993. The general circulation amounts to over 4.5 million copies of printed and multimedia editions. Over a hundred publishing houses, numerous authors' groups of Moscow and other cities and towns of Russia and CIS were given support for issuing books, thanks to the work of the City Publishing Programmes.

Since 2006, the city first-graders have received gift books from the Mayor and Government of Moscow.
Since 2007, competitions for grants to publish books about Moscow and books for children and young teenagers have been held among publishing houses.

A number of publishing projects in 1998-2010 have been connected with:

•    the jubilee dates of the Great Patriotic War;
•    the World Youth Games of 1998 held in Moscow;
•    the 200-year anniversary of A. Pushkin's birth;
•    the start of the third millennium and the 2000-year anniversary of Christianity;
•    the International Sports Youth Games of CIS, Baltic Countries and Russian Regions;
•    the 700-year anniversary of Moscow Grand Duke Daniil’s death;
•    the 100-year anniversary of V. Tchkalov's birth;
•    the 300-year anniversary of the Golitsyns' manor Kuzminki-Vlakhemskoye foundation;
•    the Year of the Child and theYear of the Family;
•    the 100-year anniversary the Saints Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy foundation;
•    the 200-year anniversary of N .V. Gogol's birth.

The editions issued with support from the city budget are regularly displayed at Russian and world book fairs. This year the “Moscow: City of Books” stand was a fundamental part of the Russian Pavilion at the London Book Fair.