The main prize of the International Slavic Forum "Golden Knight" was received by Alexander Prokhorov

Pyatigorsk. At the International Slavic Literary Forum "Golden Knight", dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Lermontov, the main prize "For Outstanding Contribution to Literature" was awarded to publicist and prose writer Alexander Prokhanov.

The first statuette of the Golden Knight and the Pushkin Gold Medal were presented to the writer at a ceremony held in Pyatigorsk, People’s Artist of Russia, President of the Slavic Art Forum Golden Knight, Chairman of the Literary Forum Nikolai Burlyaev. “Confused, flattered…”, the prize-winner admitted.

Over the five days of work, the forum participants held meetings of writers with readers and a number of film screenings. A meeting took place in the State Museum-Reserve of Mikhail Lermontov, a rally at the place of the poet’s death, an international conference was held to discuss issues “about the spiritual traditions of Slavic literature and their tasks in the light of the new state cultural policy”.

During the competitive selection program, the forum received more than one hundred applications-works from Ukraine, Georgia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Belarus, Nigeria, Greece and twenty regions of the Russian Federation. All the works included in the shortlist of the forum participants were reviewed by an international jury. The event was funded by the Federal Press and Mass Media Agency, the government of the Stavropol Territory, the Russian Emergencies Ministry and the administration of Pyatigorsk.

“I don’t have a feeling of sadness, but I’m glad that the forum took place, and we will go further. Indeed, the literary forum is only one fragment of our “Golden Knight” in the battle for the soul of a person, ”Nikolai Burlyaev told reporters. He also said that in the near future the literary incarnation of The Golden Knight could be held on an ongoing basis in Pyatigorsk, which is so inextricably linked with the life story of Mikhail Lermontov.

Svetlana Korableva © Gallerix.ru