Marathon of Reading People
For the eighth consecutive year a Reading Day was held at Varna Free University. The event was organized by the Foreign Language Teaching Department, the University Library and the Russian Centre of VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" on the occasion of 23 April – the World Book and Copyright Day.
This year's Reading Day was dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of the notable Russian writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. The organizers also arranged an exhibition of his works, published in different periods in the Russian and Bulgarian languages.
The presenter of the marathon of reading people, Dimitar Marinov, PhD introduced the participants and the guests.
The Director of the University Library Mrs Snezhana Madzharova welcomed the participants and introduced them to the history of the World Book and Copyright Day.
The Director of the Foreign Language Teaching Department Prof. Galina Shamonina, PhD made a brief yet meaningful and interesting presentation about the life biography and Turgenev’s literary work.
Prof. Shamonina, PhD emphasised that Turgenev was the first great novelist of Russian literature - he created a whole series of novels, including "Rudin", "Gentlefolk nest", "In the Eve" and "Fathers and Children". It is not by accident that in the preface to Turgenev's "Novels and Short Stories. Works in six volumes," Germanov wrote that "I. S. Turgenev is one of the most prominent figures in 19th century Russian literature. He opened new possibilities, new expansions, brought it out with all its splendour in the European and world arena ... " [v. I, W., 1981, p. 17]. The remarkable Russian writer did not remain indifferent to the tragic fate of the Bulgarian people during the April Uprising in 1876. Incited by the descriptions of the cruel suppression of the April Uprising on 22 July, 1876, Turgenev wrote the poem "Cricket in Windsor." It appeared in the Stara Planina newspaper, published in Bucharest by S. Bobchev. The sympathy for the suffering of the enslaved Bulgarian people ranks him among the 19th century great writers-humanists.
The participants in the event were immersed in the unique atmosphere of the Russian novel "On the Road" by I. Turgenev and the composer E. Abaza in the performance of the famous Russian singer Aleksander Malinin.
Students, lecturers, and VFU staff attended the reading session of the Marathon, and read excerpts of favourite authors in Bulgarian, Russian, English, Turkish and Chinese.
The participants read works by Ivan Turgenev, Jenny Joseph, Philip Larkin, Gu Chen, Ilya Slavyanin, Yahya Kemal Beyatla, Nazim Hikmet Ran, Evtim Evtimov, Stanka Pencheva, Atanas Stoev and excerpts from other favourite works. With particular interest, the audience listened to the Turgenev poem "In the Summer Night..." (in Russian) presented by Nikita Zubyashvili /student of Informatics, 3rd year/. Hamide Halil, Yoan Dimitrov, Ivilina Angelova /International Relations and Law, 3rd year /, Li Yang / China / delighted the guests with their good literary taste.
The participation of the foreign students from the preparatory course at VFU was also memorable. Dzyan Syuedzhen (China), Andrey Gavrilenko (Russia), Ayddzhan Yavuz (Turkey), Elif Mutlu (Turkey) have chosen their favourite works in their native language and read confidently the translation of their texts into Bulgarian. The audience applauded them for their artistic ability and good command of Bulgarian as foreign language.
All participants in the Reading Day were awarded by Mrs Snezhana Madzharova for their presentation. They received a certificate for participation in the marathon of readers and a book for the responsiveness, support and personal involvement in the cause of books and reading.