The Power of the Word, a family literary festival in Nizhnekamsk, gathered a full house

20 september 2022

Last weekend, Tatarstan's Nizhnekamsk hosted the family literary festival The Power of the Word for the first time. It amalgamated dozens of events intended for various age groups including lectures for children, adults, teachers, and teenagers, encounters with children's writers and authors of literature for grown-ups, creativity workshops and master classes for special children.

In two days, the festival was visited by almost 5,000 residents of Nizhnekamsk, Yelabuga, and Naberezhnye Chelny. This cultural and educational project was made possible thanks to the support of SIBUR as part of its Formula for Good Deeds social investment program.

The festival featured a series of creativity sessions with famous authors of popular works of literature. The group of the headliners included Alexey Salnikov, who had gained nationwide acclaim with his novel "The Petrovs in and around the flu”.

Funnily enough, many readers at the gathering couldn't quite believe it: "Oh, you really made it here!” Despite the fact that there are no problems with getting around these days. I'm kidding, of course. But believe me, we authors are very pleased to see that we are really welcome in different parts of Russia! The festival was another testament and proof that people do read books. No matter what they say, people are still interested in literature, they want to learn more about "the literature's kitchen". I am very grateful to Nizhnekamsk for the cordial welcome I was accorded here; the city is wonderful! the writer noted.

The opportunity to meet Denis Dragunsky, Nina Dashevskaya, Shamil Idiatullin, Yulia Kuznetsova, Andrei Usachev and Galina Dyadina, as well as the popular Tatar poet Rifat Salakh sparked genuine interest among both young and adult literature aficionados.

We spent a whole day at the festival, says Gulnaz Makhmutova from Nizhnekamsk, a mother of two. Most of all, we were looking forward to meeting Denis Dragunsky, Andrei Usachev, and Galina Dyadina, because, of course, we are very familiar with their books: we love reading The Adventures of Dennis and we know many of Usachev's poems.

Aizat Makhmutov, Deputy Head of the Executive Committee for Social Issues of Tatarstan's Nizhnekamsk District, paid special tribute to the organizers of the event:

I would like to thank SIBUR for their involvement and for the social initiative that the company has put forward. Our city needs more festivals like this. We have woven these grant programs into our cultural and educational projects. That is why I encourage everyone to be productive and active where it comes to education. Thank you very much! I wish everyone a lot of success, he said.

Stanislav Martynenko, SIBUR's Head of Government Relations in the Republic of Tatarstan, noted that the Power of the Word is a great opportunity to have great time with one's whole family:

There is a problem with spending quality time with one’s family. Children usually follow one agenda while their parents follow a different one. Sometimes everyone gets really bored. We are delighted that there is this book festival format that brings together all age groups. Thanks to SIBUR's Formula for Good Deeds program this event has become a reality. Nizhnekamsk is now playing host to a truly meaningful project. The company is investing in the development of the city and its residents, he emphasized.

More than 100 participants tested their skills by taking part in the recitation contest held as part the Power of the Word festival. The contest was held in two languages at once - Russian and Tatar. Azaliya Karimova emerged as the contest’s winner and received the top award, a smart speaker.

The literature festival provided an excellent opportunity not only to meet celebrities and demonstrate one's talents, but also to enjoy new experiences. A series of creative master classes for children and adults gathered a great number of willing attendees, including teachers of literature who were able to attend a pedagogy laboratory where they talked about literature, reading, and new approaches to education.

The festival turned out to be a fantastic event. People came to our sessions with a sense of purpose, asking intelligent and interesting questions. And it was especially important for me as a teacher to see that there were teenagers in the audience who came here on their own, and not because they were told to. They ended up being some of the festival's most active participants. That was, perhaps, the most precious thing, Rimma Rappoport, teacher and author of the book I don't want to read, noted.

For two days, the festival hosted a book market that featured some of the most sought-after latest publications by Russian publishing houses including Samokat, Career Press, Pink Giraffe, Abrikobus, and CompassGuide. The market also featured some of Tatarstan’s leading regional publishing houses. The booth of the House of Books presented publications in the Tatar language and books published by the Tatar Book Publishing House. The market’s visitors studied the books on display with a great deal of interest and very few of them went home without buying a new exciting book. Some of the new books were donated to Nizhnekamsk’s municipal library and added to its collection.

Nizhnekamsk’s librarians acted as the festival’s volunteers. According to many of them, this unique experience will have a positive impact on their future work: Those were two unforgettable days of absolutely childish delight! We met and saw off our guests, helped them at master classes, supported book publishers' consultants. To top it all off, an icing on the cake was the opportunity to attend meetings and discussions with writers. I, for one, discovered a wonderful author and literature teacher Rimma Rappoport. I was listening to her and I didn't want the session to end. And the production "About my mother and me" featuring Polina Raikina and Dina Rakhimova became a very touching and emotional highlight of this festival, Ekaterina Ginatullina, the event’s volunteer, an employee of the Gabdulla Tukay Central Library, commented.