The award ceremony of the 3rd International Competition "White World of the Arctic through the prism of Children's Book" took place in Yakutsk on November 10th.
The competition aims to develop a positive northern identity, discover talented authors, illustrators, and movie/cartoon-makers, including children’s’ writers. Many writers and travelers compare the North and the Arctic with a white sheet of paper on which everyone can write their life story or imagine their world of permafrost and ice as the key meaning, the emotional atmosphere of the North and the Arctic, dictating the strategy of actions set by the severe nature.
The works about the world of permafrost and ice are written in vivid and expressive language and tell stories of personal growth, friendship, education in boarding schools, relationships with animals, and nomadic life in the tundra. These and other diverse stories of children exploring the world will be interesting to readers of all ages from all regions of Russia and other countries.
This year, the competition "White World of the Arctic through the Prism of Children's Book" was supported by the President Fund for Cultural Initiatives.
Participants from Russian regions included the Republic of Komi, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Murmansk, Rostov, and Arkhangelsk region, Krasnoyarsk region, Moscow, and St. Petersburg? Including participants from the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan.
About 100 creative projects were selected in nine categories with the involvement of 11 external experts. All winners received personalized trophies and diplomas at the ceremony.
The executive director of the Northern Forum, Vladimir Vasilyev, was the first to congratulate the winners of the international competition. He emphasized the importance of the competition and wished for its further development so that as many people as possible from the vast regions of Russia and other countries could learn about these unique works.
Vasily Borisov, the first deputy director of the National Library of Yakutia, announced that the best works would be published in the library's electronic edition. He highlighted the invaluable contribution of the competition "White World of the Arctic through the Prism of Children's Book" to the development of children's creativity and the culture of the peoples of the North and the Arctic.
Irina Dranaeva, the head of the children's library noted that both adults and children traditionally participated in the competition.
"This is the culmination of a great collective effort - young and professional authors, the library community, and experts in the field of culture. In December, a round table on children's literature will be held, and we plan to develop the competition and strengthen our community. To achieve this, we are creating a network of Arctic libraries and inviting colleagues from northern regions, the central East, and everyone who involved in literature, preserving the culture of the Far East, the Arctic, and the North," said Irina Dranaeva. The first event of the network is already planned for next spring - the first Arctic Book Festival.
Nurguyana Reshetnikova, the director of the Yakutsk Centralized Library System, expressed gratitude to the President Fund for Cultural Initiatives for supporting the competition, as well as to the Council for Children's Books of Russia, the Northern Forum, and the Russian State Children's Library.