The British Publishing House “Hertfordshire Press”, with the support of the Yunus Emre Turkish Culture Centre, will hold the Fourth International Open Eurasia and Central Asia Book Forum and Literary Festival – 2015 (OECABF 2015) from 6th to 9th November in London.
The purpose of the forum is to draw the attention of readers and experts on the past and present achievements of the Central Asian writers; to introduce writers with representatives of publishing houses and with their readers, libraries, educational institutions and the media; to promote the development of a multilateral dialogue among contemporary writers, critics, editors, publishers.
An awards ceremony of the winners in each category of the literary competition will be held in the framework of the “Open Eurasia and Central Asia Book Forum & Literature Festival-2015″.
The international literary festival OECABF 2015 consists of three parts:
- A literary competition among writers in the literary work category, among translators in the literary translation category, among the artists in the illustration category, as well as among film directors for films, based on a literary work that took part in any of the previous OECABFs between 2012-2015, in the video film category.
The total prize fund of the contest “OECABF-2015” is $ 35,000. The main prize of the contest “Open Eurasia – 2015” is a grant of $ 19,000, which will be put towards publishing the book of the overall winner with further presentations in London.
In 2015, four prizes have been established:
- Nemat Kelimbetov Prize for the amount of $10,000 for the winner of the video category and experimental film “Open Eurasia and Central Asia”;
- Marziya Zakiryanova Prize for the amount of $5,000 for the best female work in any category of the competition, which will be put towards the publishing of the book of the winner.
- Arcadiy Bezrukov Prize for the amount of $1,000 for the best work on the subject of mountains.
- Generals Award from the Association of Generals “Generals of the World for Peace”. The Association’s highest award of the “Dove of Peace” medal for the best work on the topic of strengthening peace, friendship and mutual understanding between peoples.
The “Open Eurasia – 2015” contest received more than 600 applications from 22 countries. Acceptance of applications in all categories, except the video film category, finished on 15th September of 2015.
Applications for the video film category will continue to be accepted until 15th October 2015.
The purpose of the video and experimental film category is the further popularisation of Central Asian literature, as well as the promotion of co-operation between writers and directors in the region.
2. The Literary Festival aims to unite famous and talented young writers belonging to different literary movements and to revive interest in literature among wider sections.
The guests of OECABF 2015 will be writers from Britain (David Parry, Nick Rowan, Hamid Ismailov, Robert White, Faride Heyat), Australia (Paul Wilson), Kazakhstan (Kairat Zakiryanov Elena Bezrukova, Mukhtar Shakhanov), Scotland (Shahsanem Murray), Canada (Maxim Korsakov), Kyrgyzstan (Sultan Raev) and many others.
Book readings, puppet performances from Khorezm Theatre and the first Central Asian Theatre in London, “ORZU ARTS”, film screenings, an exhibition of paintings by Christina Glazunova and presentations of the following authors and works are scheduled during the festival:
Dawlat Tolibshohi (Cranes in the Spring)
Lenifer Mambetova (My Homeland is Crimea!)
Sharaf Rashidov (Kashmir Song)
Raushan Bunkitbaeva-Nukenova (Wormwood Wind)
Mukhtar Shakhanov, Chingiz Aitmatov (Confession at the End of the Century)
Herold Belger (Goethe and Abai)
Maxim Korsakov (Treasurer)
Kazat Akmatov (Arhat)
Charles van der Lew (The Iron Curtain: the Battle for Central Asia)
Literary Almanac (“Tvorcheskoe sodrujestvo” (“Creative collaboration”) The second issue)
Shahsanem Murray
Corporate Digest (100 Impressions About Kazakhstan. The second edition)
Sultan Raev (Kara), and others.
3. The Book Forum, which includes seminars, discussion panels and scientific conferences.
A roundtable of writers from Central Asia will be held on 9th November 2015 at the headquarters of the BBC TV and Radio Company.
_______________________________________________________________________
About the festival:
The first Central Asian OECABF literary contest was held on 24th – 25th November 2012 in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), gathering 1300 guests and becoming the first such event since the declaration of independence of the Kyrgyz Republic. The festival was opened by the former president of Kyrgyzstan, Roza Otunbayeva, and has been praised by both experts and the public.
The festival of 2013 took place from 5th to 9th November in London and Cambridge, providing an opportunity to the British public to get a better idea of the work of Central Asian artists.
Last year the festival was held from 14th to 17th November in Almaty, Kazakhstan. OECABF 2014 was organized by the Publishing House “Hertfordshire Pressæ in conjunction with the National State Book Chamber of the Republic of Kazakhstan, “Helen Bezrukova Center, Training and Consulting” and with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan, Administration of Almaty city and the Kazakh Academy of Sports and Tourism.
In 2014, 38 events were held in the framework of the “Open Eurasia and Central Asia Book Forum & Literature Festival”. The festival was visited by 2,500 people. Reports and presentations were made by more than 65 writers from 10 countries: Australia, Great Britain, Poland, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia, Turkey, the Netherlands.
The festivals have been marked by the presence of stars from world literature, such as Janusz Leon Wiśniewski from Poland, Hamid Ismailov from the UK, Elchin Safarli from Azerbaijan and others.
To copy and publish materials, you must have written or oral permission from the editorial board or the author. A hyperlink to the Adebiportal.kz portal is required. All rights reserved by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Copyright and Related Rights". adebiportal@gmail.com 8(7172) 57 60 14 (in - 1060)
The opinion of the author of the article does not represent the opinion of the editorial board.
