A representative of the Nizhny Novgorod Region won a prize at the 16th International Slavic Literary Forum "Golden Knight".

      21 October 2025 15:20 Culture and Leisure

      Archpriest Mikhail Rezin from Ardatov in the Nizhny Novgorod region became a prize-winner of the XVI International Slavic Literary Forum "Golden Vityaz". The awarding of laureates and diploma recipients took place in the White Hall of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Library named after V.I. Lenin.

      The awards ceremony was attended by the president of the International Slavic Forum "Golden Vityaz", Nikolai Burlyaev, and the director of the International Slavic Literary Forum "Golden Vityaz", poet, writer and historian Alexander Orlov.

      "I was told a story when Shukshin showed screen tests at the Gorky Studio of Children's and Youth Films, where he made 'Pechki-lavochki'. He showed the tests, and one of the editors asked him: 'Where did you find those faces?' Shukshin's Siberian cheekbones twitched, and he replied: 'These are my countrymen!' It is about such people that the prose writers who came to our forum and who sent their works throughout the year write — our experts read about 450 works, selected the 30 best, but these are, indeed, the salt of the Russian earth," noted Nikolai Burlyaev.

      "I would like to point out that the International Slavic Literary Forum is, today, probably the most mobile literary forum in the world. Just this year we performed in Khabarovsk, Irkutsk, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov Veliky, Tutayev, Yaroslavl, Berdyansk, Donetsk, Gorlovka, and many other places. And here is our final point — the awarding, which took place first in Moscow, now in Nizhny Novgorod, and will also conclude in Moscow. And I think that is wonderful," said Alexander Orlov, director of the International Slavic Literary Forum "Golden Vityaz".

      During the awards ceremony, nine "Golden Vityaz" statuettes were presented to what the forum jury considered the best writers of Russia and the Republic of Belarus. Thus, the prize in the "Prose" category went to writer Konstantin Alekseev from Moscow; the prize in "Literary Studies" to Lyudmila Vorobyova from Minsk; prizes in "Publicism" to Archpriest Mikhail Rezin from Ardatov, Nizhny Novgorod region, and to Irina Barsel from Moscow — "For all, for all four years"; the prize in "Literary Translation" to Anatoly Avrutin from Minsk; the prize in "History of the Slavic Peoples" to Ksenia Velikhovskaya and Olga Uborskaya from Moscow.

      In addition, prizes from the forum's organizing committee — "Golden Vityaz" statuettes — went to Rostov-on-Don. They were received by the literary and art magazine Don, recipient of the Order of Friendship of Peoples, and the State Museum-Reserve M.A. Sholokhov "The Quiet Don". The organizing committee's prize was also presented to the museum complex "Solnechny Krug" (Sunny Circle) of the Center for Tourism, Local History and Excursions for Student Youth of the city of Gorlovka (DPR).

      Special jury prizes and diplomas of the XVI International Slavic Literary Forum "Golden Vityaz" were awarded in the "Prose" category to Andrei Avramenkov from Voronezh and to Bishop Gennady (Gogolev) of Kaskelen; in "Literary Studies" to Olesya Nikolaeva from Moscow. Also, special prizes of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church "Road to the Temple" in the "History of the Slavic Peoples" category were awarded to Valery Khairiuzov from Irkutsk.

      The A.S. Pushkin Gold Medal "For Outstanding Contribution to Literature" was awarded to Soviet and Russian prose writer, journalist and historian Sergey Mikheenkov from Tarusa.

      The remaining awards will be presented later.

      Recall that the final part of the XVI International Slavic Literary Forum "Golden Vityaz" took place in the Nizhny Novgorod region from 15 to 17 October. The program included round tables, creative meetings in libraries of Nizhny Novgorod and the region, film screenings and concerts.

      The forum was organized by the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization for the Development of Culture and Art "International Film Forum 'Golden Vityaz'" together with the government of the Nizhny Novgorod region, with the support of the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, the All-Russian public organization "Cultural Front of Russia", the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, the A.M. Gorky State Literary Institute, the literary fund "Road of Life", the Nizhny Novgorod State Regional Universal Scientific Library named after V.I. Lenin, and the literary and art magazine "Nizhny Novgorod".

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