Day of Belarusian Written Language

Logo of the Belarusian Written Language Day

Day of Belarusian Written Language is an annual holiday that is marked on the first Sunday of September.

The holiday is intended to demonstrate the unity of the Belarusian written word and the history and culture of the Belarusian people, and to show the development of the written language and book publishing in Belarus.

Following the tradition, Day of Belarusian Written Language is celebrated in the cities which are considered cultural, scientific and literature centers of the country.

2012 was declared Year of Book in Belarus.

Timeline

Day of Belarusian Written Language was first celebrated in the ancient city of Polotsk in 1994.

Later on, the celebrations were held in the country’s historically significant cultural centers such as Turov, Novogrudok, Nesvizh, Orsha, Pinsk, Zaslavl, Mstislavl, Mir, Kamenets, Postavy, Shklov, Borisov, Smorgon, Khoiniki, Gantsevichi, Glubokoe, Bykhov.

The 21st Day of Belarusian Written Language took place on September 7, 2014 in Zaslavl (Minsk region).

In 2015 a new Belarus' literary capital Shchuchin, Grodno Oblast, hosted the 22nd Day of Belarusian Written Language.

In 2016 the traditional celebrations of the Day of Belarussian Written Language will be held in Rogachev, Gomel Oblast.

In 2017, the capital of the festival, dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Belarusian book printing, will be ancient Polotsk, the birthplace of the Belarus first printer and enlightener Francysk Skaryna.

Events on Day of Belarusian Written Language

The participants and guests of the celebrations are given a unique chance to get familiar with the new books and meet national and foreign writers, poets, journalists and publishers. By tradition Day of Belarusian Written Language includes an award ceremony of the winners of the best literary work contest, a science-to-practice conference, and many more interesting events.