World Writer's Day: Struggle for freedom of speech, formation of interest in literary works

It is difficult to imagine what would be the path of mankind without written language. Thanks to the unknown inventor of signs people were able to fix their thoughts and keep written. Later, printing appeared, which promoted the spread of scientific and other ideas around the world.

Thanks to the authors of books, readers learn about the lives of people from different countries and eras, learn to understand themselves and others, find answers to questions, receive aesthetic pleasure.

For the poet, prose writer, playwright, it is important that his works are deserved recognition, not subjected to severe censorship, published in accordance with the principle of freedom of information. World Day of the writer is called upon to draw people's attention to literary creativity.

history of the holiday

With the initiative to establish a festive date, the International PEN Club performed in 1986. The organization was founded in the 1920s by the British writer Catherine Amy Dawson-Scott. Headed by the association J. Galsworthy.

The name of the club stands for Poets, Essayists, Novelists, which means "poets, essayists, novelists". The abbreviation PEN corresponds to the English word, which means "pen for writing".

PEN-club created in order to resist any suppression of freedom of speech inside and outside the country. According to members of the organization, writers have the right to express their own opinion, criticize the political system of their country, government bodies, social sphere. Since it is important to keep the measure when working on literary works, the PEN club is against false publications, falsification of data, false interpretation of facts for political, group and personal purposes.

The date of the professional holiday of writers is March 3. World Writer's Day Was established at the 48th Congress of the club.

PEN centers are open in one hundred and thirty countries of the world.

Freedom of speech: rethinking

Trends in the development of modern society (democracy, informatization, expansion of media influence, Internet resources, political transformations in a number of countries) necessitate a clear definition of the concept of "freedom of speech" in relation to the realities of today. The right to freely express their thoughts is enshrined in the legislation of many countries, but in reality, the will of citizens is limited to the legal norms and the value system characteristic of a particular culture. The World Day of the writer, celebrated on March 3, is an occasion to pay attention to the problem.

Freedom can not be regarded as an outrage and involves the realization of human rights in combination with the individual's awareness of responsibility for their actions. The same applies to freedom of speech. A writer, a journalist, and an ordinary Internet user need to clearly understand that everything they say entails certain consequences. At the same time, true freedom of speech is impossible without state confidence in the media, authors, publishers.

A modern writer: who is he?

Being a master of the word is both a reward and a punishment. Writing, even if it brings money and fame (congratulations on World Writer Day, a book exhibition with the distribution of autographs once a month, etc.), is not considered a full-fledged profession. It is rather a vocation, a follow-up to inner motives, the fulfillment of a desire to say something to mankind.

In the modern pragmatic world, the writer is no longer a martyr, a prisoner of conscience, but a workaholic, striving for success. Satisfying the spiritual needs of readers becomes more difficult, as people have become more demanding, have access to various sources of information.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, leveling has gradually disappeared, an understanding has emerged that a person can not be averaged. Therefore, when creating the next masterpiece, the features of the target audience are taken into account: housewives, gamers, candidates of philosophical sciences, etc. At each social group, products of a certain level and subjects are in demand.

Domestic and foreign authors raise the problems of a person's place in society, social inequality, the relationship of a man and a woman in our time, finding strength and opportunities to combat adversity and achieve goals. These are the works of A. Berseneva, V. Tokareva, T. Ustinova, J.D. Salinger, P. Coelho, G.G. Marquez and others.

It is not easy to publish a good book and get readers' recognition, but in the age of information technology everyone can express a need to speak out in social networks, diaries, personal blogs. Talented users have a chance to grow into professional authors.

Festive events

World day of the writer is celebrated not only by pen workers, but also by all who are related to literature, culture, art. Literary matinees and evenings, creative meetings with writers and poets are held every March 3 in educational institutions.

Pre-school pupils and high school students get acquainted with children's literature, read poetry, participate in sketches, share their impressions of what they read in the library lessons. So in the post-Soviet space, the World Day of the writer is celebrated. The events have always been a success.

Adults are literary critics, public figures, theatrical collectives. The holiday is celebrated in educational institutions, scientific organizations, cultural institutions, publishing houses, etc.

World Writer Day in the Library

To whom, how not to the librarians to take a direct part in the preparation and conduct of the holiday? Modern libraries are not just storehouses of books, they are real cultural and educational centers, where children, and adult readers enjoy spending time with pleasure.

On World Writers Day, libraries are invited to participate in interactive events. For example, Ufa schoolchildren not only listened to the performance of the children's writer Svetlana Voytyuk, but also took part in staging the play based on the author's work. In the library of one of the schools in the Belarusian city of Borisov, students created their own little books. Readers of the Scientific Library of Lipetsk had an opportunity to get acquainted with the collection of works by writers of their native land.

Meetings with representatives of the creative intelligentsia and book exhibitions take place in all libraries of the Russian Federation and near abroad.

Literary awards

World Day of the writer is also known for the fact that on March 3 the most talented masters of the word are awarded. Prizes are awarded on other days of the year. So, in 2015 the winner of the "Literary Bestseller" was Sergei Nosov for the novel "Braces".

Elena Dorman was awarded the Alexander Pyatigorsky Literary Prize for the translation of A. Schmemann's philosophical work "Liturgy of Death and Contemporary Culture".

The International Booker Prize was awarded to the Hungarian writer-scriptwriter Laszlo Krasnahorakai on a set of literary merits.

Nobel Prize laureates in literature in different years became Henryk Sienkiewicz, Ivan Bunin, Boris Pasternak, Heinrich Böll and other authors.