On May 11, 2017, in the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' led the seventh ceremony of electing and awarding laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church: Metropolitan Barsanuphius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate; Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk; the first vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' for Moscow, Metropolitan Arseny of Istra; Metropolitan Longin of Saratov and Volsk; the abbot of the St. Andrew's Stavropegic Monastery, Bishop Theophylact of Dmitrov; Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Exarchate, Bishop Pavel of Molodechno and Stolbtsovsky; Bishop Nikodim of Edinet and Brichany; Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archpriest Nikolai Balashov; editor-in-chief of the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archpriest Vladimir Silovyov; Deputy Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archimandrite Savva (Tutunov); employees of the Publishing Council, the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate and other synodal institutions, clergy and monastics.

The event was also attended by members of the House of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, Russian literary scholars, journalists, representatives of government and public organizations, and cultural figures.

The Soyuz TV channel broadcast live from the Hall of Church Councils.

The ceremony began with the screening of a film dedicated to the history of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill addressed those gathered with the Primate's word.

The acceptance of applications for the Patriarchal Literary Prize began on September 14, 2016. During the seventh award season, 50 applications were received from various regions of Russia, as well as from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Latvia. March 28 this year At a meeting of the House of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, a short list of nominees for 2017 was approved, which included:

• Irina Anatolyevna Bogdanova;
• Dmitry Mikhailovich Volodikhin;
• Vasily Vladimirovich Dvortsov;
• Viktor Ivanovich Likhonosov;
• Boris Fedorovich Sporov;
• Alexander Borisovich Tkachenko;
• Archpriest Yaroslav Shipov.

• Bishop of Molodechno and Stolbtsovsky Pavel, Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Exarchate;
• Yu.M. Loschits, writer, publicist and literary critic, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize;
• K.P. Kovalev-Sluchevsky, professor at the Institute of Journalism and Literary Creativity, writer.

Then the election of laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize took place: members of the House of Trustees filled out voting ballots. The ballots were transferred to the Counting Commission. Members of the Counting Commission counted the votes, filled out the protocol and handed it over to His Holiness the Patriarch.
During the voting and counting of votes, a film about the nominees for the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize was shown.

His Holiness the Patriarch presented the laureates with a diploma and badges of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.

All the 2017 award nominees were also invited to the stage - I.A. Bogdanova, D.M. Volodikhin, V.V. Dvortsov, A.B. Tkachenko, to whom the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church presented honorary diplomas.

The choir of the Otrada orphanage at the Nikolsky Chernoostrovsky Monastery in Maloyaroslavets, Kaluga Region, took part in the musical accompaniment of the ceremony.

At the end of the evening there was a concert.

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The Patriarchal Literary Prize was established by the Holy Synod at a meeting on December 25, 2009 (magazine No. 115) with the aim of encouraging writers who have made a significant contribution to the establishment of spiritual and moral values ​​in the life of modern man, family and society, who have created highly artistic works that have enriched Russian literature. This prize has no analogues in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Local Orthodox Churches.
The first laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize in 2011 was the writer Vladimir Krupin. In the second award season (2012), the winners were Olesya Nikolaeva and Viktor Nikolaev. In 2013, the awards were awarded to Alexey Varlamov, Yuri Loshchits and Stanislav Kunyaev. In the fourth award season (2014), the winners were Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, Valentin Kurbatov and Valery Ganichev. In 2015, the prize was awarded to Yuri Bondarev, Yuri Kublanovsky and Alexander Segen, in 2016 - to Boris Ekimov, Boris Tarasov and priest Nikolai Blokhin.

Word of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at the ceremony of presenting the Patriarchal Literary Prize 2017

Your Eminences and Graces! Dear fathers, brothers and sisters! Ladies and Gentlemen!

Christ is Risen!

I warmly greet you all. We have gathered in this hall to elect for the seventh time the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius. And I am sure that today, as in past years, truly worthy authors will become new laureates.

According to established tradition, I would like to preface the ceremony with some thoughts about the fate of Russian literature.

Once I had the opportunity to read an article in a well-known foreign publication devoted to the current state of Russian literature. The article was published under a very bright and provocative title: “Is Russian literature dead?” I will not retell the contents of this article - I think the essence is clear from the title. The author’s main message was that Russian writers allegedly “shredded”, the last great works were written several decades ago, and the authority and influence of Russian literature on the minds of contemporaries is no longer what it used to be.

Let's leave aside the fact that the article was published in a foreign weekly. Unfortunately, one encounters similar pessimistic views among representatives of the domestic intelligentsia. At such moments, I always want to ask my interlocutor: “Where do such thoughts even come from? Did writers of the 19th or 20th centuries really have better conditions for creativity or more food for thought than today?”

Talented people are born and live in any era. The question is not at all that we do not have new Pushkins, Dostoevskys, Chekhovs, Pasternaks. We have them. The question is how to reveal these writers to the world, how to make their work the property of the whole society.

To explain my thoughts, I would like to make a short excursion into history, to the 30s of the XIX century. The well-known censor at that time, Alexander Krasovsky, speaking about contemporary literature, once called it disgusting. Probably, his judgment would not have been so interesting if not for the fact that Krasovsky lived in an era that would later be called the golden age of Russian culture.

So, you ask, was the critic ignorant? No! Krasovsky was an educated, well-read man, he knew several foreign languages. What prevented him from seeing Pushkin or Gogol? What was the reason for such blindness, which did not allow us to see brilliant writers among our contemporaries? Perhaps insensitivity, inattention to the artistic word?

It's no secret that Pushkin's later, more mature works, which we admire today, were greeted by many of his contemporaries very coolly and even with misunderstanding. There were also those who wrote about the general crisis of literature and the decline of Pushkin’s talent. And even “Boris Godunov,” written earlier, was not immediately accepted and understood by readers.

So what, after all, most determines the ability to see? Maybe a look from some historical distance? This question is not rhetorical; it requires serious thought. It is important to understand that the literary process is not one, not two, or even three names. This is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The literary process is formed in a certain cultural environment and through the efforts of not two or three outstanding people, but the entire writing community. Just as a fertile layer of soil contributes to the rapid growth and successful development of plants, so a healthy and properly organized literary process contributes to the emergence of new geniuses and beautiful works of art.

The Lord does not leave any time without talented people, without real writers and poets. Let me emphasize once again: there are talented authors in any era, and our time is no exception. It is important not to overlook these talents. Contemporaries, especially the writing community, editors, publishers, should try to notice talents, support them, especially at the beginning of their journey, give them the opportunity to publish, and tell readers about them.

Today, aspiring authors have to face considerable difficulties when publishing their works. Many publishing houses simply refuse to allow authors to publish their works, citing the current laws of the market, which require, first of all, what will sell successfully and what will make a profit. The sad tendency to make money from literature, unfortunately, often leads to the fact that most publishers are not interested in the actual artistic quality of the work, but in how similar it is to one of the box-office novels in order to continue that line of bestsellers.

Such market filters become a big obstacle for original and truly talented authors. And those who are able to influence the cultural environment and who have some leverage, including the publishing process, are called upon to overcome these obstacles. I am deeply convinced that a special role should be played by editors and publishers, that is, people on whom the publication of certain authors depends.

I hope that the Patriarchal Literary Prize will also make a significant contribution to the discovery of new names, in support of gifted masters of words. This support is extremely important for writers and poets. Do we realize how many authors we don’t know only because there was no one next to them who was sincerely interested in their work and helped them reach the reader? Do we realize how many talented people are no longer published, precisely because there were those nearby who did not have an impeccable sense of language, were not very well versed in literature, but at the same time considered it possible to give negative reviews. Other examples can be given: more than once talented writers and poets found themselves unable to appreciate the works of their contemporaries. How many texts were lost because they were not printed on time?

In general, this is a very serious topic - the ability to see, understand, feel, and much here also depends on how the public consciousness is oriented. If in the 19th and 20th centuries (at least in the first half of the 20th century) literature was an important source of food for thought, today literature occupies only a part, and far from a dominant one, in the increasingly powerful information flow. It is becoming increasingly difficult to discern a talented author in a huge array of information. In addition, the attention of the vast majority of people today is focused on electronic media. The general acceleration of the pace of life is another factor that adversely affects reading in general and the ability to identify outstanding authors. There is no time to read a book from beginning to end, but in order to understand the author’s intention, to feel the beauty of the style, you need to not only read, but also reflect on the book!

So the point, of course, is not only in publishers and editors, but also in how much the general cultural context contributes to the orientation of mass consciousness towards the sphere of fiction. And we all need to think carefully about what should be done to ensure that fiction regains its position, so that people read not only light, action-packed books, but also texts created by masters of words containing deep thoughts.

The wonderful Russian poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky was able to accurately assess the scale of Pushkin’s gift when he was still very young. I quote: “For everything that happened to you and that you brought upon yourself, I have one answer: poetry. You do not have talent, but genius... By virtue of the authority given to me, I offer you first place at the Russian Parnassus. And what place if with the height of genius connect and lofty goal!” Probably, only a person who had not only literary talent, high professional qualifications, but also very strong eyesight, capable of distinguishing spirits (see 1 Cor. 12:10) could penetrate into the poet’s talent in this way. So the question arises: can a person living in our fast-moving, bustling time have such vision, or is modern man completely deprived of the opportunity to see the essence of things, to be able to find talents and support them? I don't think there is a simple answer to this question. But we live in the era that God has assigned to us, and our task is to create tools that enhance our spiritual vision and give us the opportunity to find talents, feed on their thoughts and the beauty of the style.

As you know, in the future Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky tried to defend Pushkin, and who knows how the poet’s human and literary life would have developed if not for Zhukovsky’s help. And today it is important for us to learn to be attentive, to learn to see talented contemporaries and to help, in whatever way we can, the people whom God has gifted. Then our literature will be enriched with new names and wonderful works of art. God grant that the Patriarchal Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius, Equal-to-the-Apostles, may serve as a modest, but quite effective tool that would help not only specialists identify talented authors, but also the general reader to get acquainted with the work of their remarkable contemporaries.

Thank you for your attention.

Press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'

- Father Euthymy, please tell us about the Patriarchal Literary Prize. What are its features and differences from other literary awards?

The prize was established by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on the initiative of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill. At the moment, this is the youngest literary prize in Russia, or better to say - using the term that has recently come into use - the Russian World, since among the candidates for the prize there can be not only citizens of Russia, but also all writers who write in Russian, regardless of depending on what part of the world they live in. Also in the House of Trustees of the award there are representatives of Ukraine, Belarus and Russian diaspora.

If we talk about the features of the award, then, in my opinion, it is very important that this is not just one of many initiatives supported by the Church, but precisely the initiative of the Church itself, and the initiative that the Church brings to life exclusively on its own - the monetary component of the award will be paid from the church budget.

In this sense, the establishment of the Prize is an unprecedented attempt by the Church to support Russian literature and to give it a helping hand in an extremely difficult period for it. If you want, this is a symbolic act of reconciliation - after all, we know that the history of the relationship between the Russian Church and Russian literature knows different periods, so the appearance of such a prize can be considered as an offer to finally become full-fledged allies.

- Each award has its own criteria. By what criteria are candidates for the Patriarchal Prize selected?

This is stated in the Regulations on the Prize, which in particular states that the Prize is awarded for contributions to Russian literature, as well as for strengthening Christian values ​​in society, which is understood as the set of spiritual and moral norms preserved by the Orthodox Church. This is the main criterion. Unlike prizes that are awarded for a specific work, the Patriarchal Literary Prize is closer in type to, for example, the Nobel Prize or state prizes.

This prize means recognition by the Church of the totality of the writer’s merits, not only as the author of a specific work, but also as a public figure, as a person who occupies a certain position in life, has a Christian worldview and disseminates views that correspond to this worldview. This approach contains a very important and, unfortunately, in our time often neglected idea of ​​the integrity of the writer’s personality, the inextricable connection between the author’s life and his works. After all, as you know, the spirit creates forms for itself. Actually, this is probably the criterion for the authenticity of literary creativity: is it correlated - directly or, perhaps, indirectly - with what the Word of God reveals to us, what God the Word reveals to us in His Revelation? This, obviously, is the key difference between a genuine writer and a graphomaniac.

People don’t care what kind of life a priest leads. Likewise, real readers are always interested in the personality of the writer. I remember back at the university, at one of the seminars on the history of Russian literature, we discussed the question: could Pushkin and Lermontov be recognized as national geniuses if they killed their opponents in a duel? Then the very formulation of the question struck me - after all, by the time of their duels, both Pushkin and Lermontov had already written all the texts with which they entered world literature. As a result of long and intense discussions, we came to the conclusion that the murderers could not receive popular recognition as national geniuses. Genius and villainy are incompatible, as Pushkin convincingly demonstrated, which means that true genius is also a moral authority.

- Who can be nominated as a candidate for the Patriarchal Prize?

Of course, this must be a Christian writer, a person who has an Orthodox view of the world and expresses this view in his works. I personally am closer to the definition of a Christian writer than an Orthodox writer, because when we say about a particular writer that he is a Christian, we mean, first of all, his involvement in the great tradition of Russian literature, and not his actual religious affiliation. And the fact that in Russia a Christian writer is precisely an Orthodox Christian goes without saying, because - excuse me, I don’t want to offend anyone - neither a Catholic, nor a Protestant, much less a sectarian can be a Russian writer. Such a person can, of course, write in Russian, but he cannot be a Russian writer, that is, a representative and successor of a very specific spiritual and literary tradition.

Therefore, I would very much like the prize to contribute, among other things, to the rehabilitation in the public consciousness of such concepts as Christianity and Christian values. So that people finally realize: in Russia, Christianity and Orthodoxy have always been identical concepts and should remain so in the future. It’s a strange thing - recently, when we talk about Christianity, then for some reason in most cases it is assumed that what is meant is heterodoxy - Catholicism, Protestantism or even sectarianism. This is a very dangerous bias in public consciousness that needs to be eliminated. I hope that our writers will remind us that our ancestors accepted Christianity, and its preacher and guardian from time immemorial in Rus' was the Orthodox Church.

Unfortunately, we do not have many authors who could be considered successors of the great literary tradition that was formed in Russia and is an integral part of Russian and world culture. Classical Russian literature is a unique phenomenon, because this literature, like no other literature in the world, is characterized by an appeal to the depths of the human soul, the human spirit. It was Russian writers who tried to pose in their works the eternal, perhaps insoluble questions of human existence. This is what has always distinguished great Russian literature, and this is what made it interesting to people of other cultures. To the credit of Russian writers, it must be said that even during periods of the deepest alienation of literature from the Church, among them there were always those who realized, or at least intuitively understood, the deep commonality of the tasks that the Church and literature are called upon to solve.

As I already said, there are few writers whom we could rightfully classify today as the creators of great literature, but the quantitative indicator in this case is not the most important. It is noteworthy that all the nominees are people who were born and lived a significant part of their lives during the Soviet era. And the very fact that the Church now recognizes them as continuers of the great tradition of Russian literature - a tradition that is fundamentally Christian - speaks volumes. If our literature did not break down and survived both the harsh era of state atheism and the times of post-Soviet chaos, then there is hope for its revival in the future.

- Who forms the short list, by whom and how is the laureate determined?

The short list is formed by a Council of Experts, which includes famous literary scholars, writers and clergy. The Board of Experts presents a short list to the House of Trustees, and here I would like to clarify one detail. Most often, trustees are understood as philanthropists, but in this case, trusteeship does not consist of providing financial resources. Since the establishment of the Prize was initiated by His Holiness the Patriarch, he is its main trustee, and writers, literary scholars, literary critics and clergy - those who act as assistants and advisers to the Patriarch in electing the laureate - accordingly form the House of Trustees.

It is this body that continues the expert work and determines the laureate, and his election will take place directly during the solemn ceremony on May 26 in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior; he will be elected by secret ballot. The award will be presented for the first time in 2011, so only one laureate will be selected this year. Subsequently, the number of laureates may be larger.

As the secretary of the Council of Experts, I would like to clarify that our Council selected nominees from those candidates who were nominated in accordance with the Regulations of the Prize. There were quite well-known authors who did not want to be nominated and recused themselves. There were also those who might have wanted to compete for the title of the first laureate of the Patriarchal Prize, but were not nominated by anyone. Each member of the Council of Experts expressed his opinion on who, from his point of view, deserves to be included in this list. Based on the totality of these opinions, the nominees were determined based on the results of the discussion. Among them there is a priest-writer and women writers - and one of them represents the Russian Abroad. Unfortunately, this time no one was nominated from Ukraine or Belarus - I hope this flaw will be made up for in subsequent premium seasons.

What role do the literary and artistic merits of a work play in the decision to award a prize?

Artistic merit is a rather subjective concept, and today a work of art is often declared to be something that has absolutely no signs of artistry and, until quite recently, under no circumstances could it have been allowed to be published. After all, as you know, if content is impossible without form, then form is possible without content. And today, precisely under the guise of the originality of the author’s artistic worldview, all sorts of obscene little books are published in thousands of copies, containing obscene language and descriptions of all sorts of baseness that a person is capable of.

The Christian view of literature does not at all neglect form, but assumes that content is primary in relation to form. As Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol said, art is an invisible step towards Christianity, therefore the value of a work of art is determined by the extent to which it is able to lead the reader to the perception of higher meanings. In the Christian picture of the world, meaning as such is the meaning of Divine Revelation, this is the meaning of the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. All other meanings go back to this highest meaning.

It is obvious that the deeper the meaning, the more perfect the form that expresses it should be. If a writer created a work, prompted by the power of God, inspired by the prophetic gift - and the theme of prophetic ministry is very close to Russian literature, then this will certainly be reflected in the literary form of his work and will predetermine the artistic merits of his work.

- What literature is needed today? What literature is in demand today?

Needed and in demand are two different questions. Serious, genuine - great literature - will always be needed by human society - more precisely, as long as it wants to remain human. Our society has long been secular, the solution to all spiritual issues here has been pushed into the private sphere of life, therefore serious literature for it is the only space for dialogue about eternal values, for thinking about eternal issues. This, if you like, is his last hope, his last chance to save himself from complete savagery.

Another thing is what kind of literature is in demand today - it depends on how this or that book is sold, how successfully it passes the filters that are established by the media. If a book does not comply with a certain format, then it has practically no chance of being published in more or less widely circulated editions. In the overwhelming majority of cases, publishing houses do not undertake to publish works that will not generate income.

This year, the short list of the Patriarchal Prize, along with recognized masters of modern literature, also included lesser-known writers. Some of them are still content with very modest circulations, but the very fact that a particular writer is included in the short list of the Patriarchal Literary Prize should become a signal to publishers about whom to pay attention to.

I would like, of course, for the Patriarchal Prize to become a center of attraction for those writers and writers who are aware of their continuity in relation to the great tradition of Russian literature. In general, the idea of ​​continuity is one of the key ideas of Christianity, because the Tradition of the Church is, by and large, the continuity of faith, teaching and experience. And if the Church lives by Tradition, if Tradition is the basis of the life of the Church, then genuine literature will be alive as long as it maintains continuity with that literature that has enriched the world, all of humanity with its ideas, insights and approaches.

Let's hope that the Patriarchal Literary Prize will remind modern writers, readers and our entire society of this.

On March 28, 2017, in the Red Hall of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a short list of candidates for the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal-to-the-Apostles was approved. Today we briefly talk about each nominee.

Prose of priest Yaroslav Shipov

Archpriest Yaroslav Shipov is a nominee for the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize.

Yaroslav Alekseevich Shipov was born in 1947 to a family of journalists who went through the Great Patriotic War. He spent his childhood and youth in Moscow, where in 1974 he graduated from S. Zalygin’s creative seminar at the Literary Institute. A.M. Gorky. Lessons from the recognized master of prose, classes in a seminar together with I. Evseenko, G. Bazhenov, S. Rybas and other future famous writers helped Shipov find his unique style of storytelling, which he honed over the following years.

In 1976, his first story, “Journey to the Front Line,” was published in the magazine “Rural Youth.” In 1981, the publishing house "Young Guard", which actively published beginning authors, published Shipov's first book with the same name (based on the first published story). For her, the young writer was awarded an honorary prize named after A.M. Gorky, awarded by the Central Committee of the Komsomol and the Union of Writers of the USSR.

In 1983 he was admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR. During these years, Shipov worked at the Sovremennik publishing house in the editorial office of modern Russian prose. His books “The Third Day Was Walking” (1984), “Western Outskirts” (1986), “The District Wonderworker” (1990) indicate that an interesting writer has come to Russian literature, actively working in the short story genre, faithful to realistic traditions, carefree and seriously looking at the modern day, resolving spiritual and moral conflicts and collisions in artistic form. Shipov speaks heartfeltly, with lyrical inspiration, about the Russian province, about the difficult fates of his heroes, and masterfully describes his native nature. The writer actively publishes in the magazines “Our Contemporary”, “Moscow”, “Rise”, “Russian House”, “Literary Study”, in the newspapers “Literary Newspaper” and “Literary Russia”, in book almanacs and collective collections.

From his youth he was fond of fishing and hunting. For the convenience of hunting, I bought an old house in a village in the Vologda region. He came to faith in the late 80s, and was baptized in 1987. Later, with the blessing of his confessor, he helped village residents return the dilapidated church of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1991, he became rector of the transferred church - and then worked on the restoration of three more parishes. At that time, he only wrote articles for the local newspaper about church holidays, saints, and Orthodox traditions.

In 1995, due to health reasons, he returned to Moscow. In 2000, he published a collection of stories, “You Have No Right to Refuse,” about the life of an Orthodox priest in the Russian outback. Then the collections appeared: “Longness of Days” (2002), “Paradise Farms” (2007), “Forest Desert” (2009), “First Prayer” (2010), “Paradise Farms and Other Stories” (2012), “Longing for Heaven” (2013), “Spring Dream” (2016)

Father Yaroslav views his literary work as a continuation of his priestly preaching. His stories are written professionally, entertainingly, in excellent Russian, with warm humor. Their heroes are our contemporaries who are looking for the meaning of life, establishing themselves in faith, and leading others to it.

Missionary short stories by Alexander Tkachenko

Alexander Tkachenko is a nominee for the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize.

Born in 1967 in the city of Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky, Kyiv region. In 1992 he graduated from the Kaluga College of Culture. From 2009 to 2014 - editor of the "Faith" section in the magazine "Thomas", in which he has been publishing his apologetic works in almost every issue for more than ten years. Their peculiarity is that they are written in excellent Russian literary language, thanks to which they are very well received even by unchurched readers.

Author of more than 300 publications in various media, including a series of articles devoted to Russian literature and its connection with the Orthodox tradition. In 2010 he became a laureate of the IV festival of Orthodox media “Faith and Word”.

In 2014 he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Psychology and Pedagogy. Currently she works as a literary editor at the children's literature publishing house "Nastya and Nikita". Father of four children.

Some of the author’s most significant books include: “Butterfly in the Palm”, “Tears Flying to the Sky”, “The Corrector of Evil”, “Saving the Hopeless”, “What to Ask from God”. These books are not strictly fiction, but rather apologetic and missionary stories. Nevertheless, the success of the books among readers is due, not least of all, to the author’s unique literary style, which made the story about Christian doctrine accessible and interesting even to people far from the Church.

Also, the author has been writing books for children for many years. In addition to his own works, almost from the day he was founded, he has been the literary editor of the “Nastya and Nikita” series of children’s literature, which has so far published about two hundred original books written by various authors. The books in this series are known to parents, teachers and librarians in various parts of our country, since for several years the series was a supplement to the Orthodox magazine “Thomas” and was distributed by subscription.

The success of “Nastya and Nikita” among readers was also possible thanks to the many years of work of its literary editor. In addition to the usual editorial work with texts, the proposed award nominee made the unique stories of Fyodor Konyukhov accessible to children, turning them into four exciting children's books.

Separately, I would like to note the work of the nominee at the Nikeya publishing house on the children’s series “Lives of the Saints, arranged for children.” Alexander Tkachenko wrote more than half of all published books for her, and, in fact, is the creator of the literary style of this series, which tells children about the life of the saint. The Christian feat of the saints of our Church is revealed in a form understandable to a child, with elements of artistic storytelling. Each of the books is written in such a way that the example of the saints helps children develop in themselves the important spiritual qualities necessary for a Christian. Over the five years of its existence, the series has enjoyed constant success among readers.

About the books of prose writer Boris Sporov

Boris Sporov is a nominee for the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize.

Born on October 8, 1934 in the city of Aktyubinsk, with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War he went to school, finished 4th grade and then immediately began working at a defense plant. In 1945, after his father returned from the front, he moved to central Russia, to his homeland, Nizhny Novgorod (then Gorky), then to the village of Lyskovo. From 1948-1957 worked on the construction of the Gorky hydroelectric power station as a carpenter, electric welder, fitter, assembler.

In 1957, he was arrested and sentenced to four years under the political article “propaganda and agitation against Soviet power” for speaking at a Komsomol conference with a proposal to dissolve the Komsomol as a political and unnecessary organization. In the camp where he served his sentence, he completed his high school course and received a certificate. After his release, he successfully graduated from the Literary Institute named after. A.M. Gorky.

After graduating from the institute, he worked as a labor teacher in a boarding school. A year later he worked as a teacher of Russian language and literature in a village school. After the school closed, he moved to teaching work in a boarding school in the city of Vladimir. He was soon rehabilitated.

He worked as a journalist in newspapers, Moscow magazines “Our Contemporary”, “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate”, publishing houses “Sovremennik”, “Father’s House”. He published his first book in 1984. In 1987 he was admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR.

He is the winner of a number of awards: Orthodox Literary Prize named after the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky for the book “Heirs” 2006; Prize of the Union of Writers of Russia named after. E. Volodin “Imperial Culture” for the book “Cuckoo’s Tears” in 2007; medal named after A.P. Chekhov from the Union of Writers of Russia. Diploma winner of the “Enlightenment through the Book” competition held by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church for the book “Siege”, 2009.

He is the author of the works: “Warrior of Christ: St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky)” (Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate), “Father and Fatherland” (Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate), “Exit”, “Seven Kasyanov”, “Antonov Fire”, “After the War” ", "Heirs", "On the Path to Faith" "Fedor". He has published many articles about Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov and authors of the Soviet period. Published in magazines: “Moscow”, “Roman-magazine 21st century”, “Native Ladoga”.

Boris Sporov masterfully interweaves social and spiritual problems in his works: the heroes think about death, eternity, strive to unravel the mystery of existence, to understand what family happiness consists of, what is more important, career, success or children, loved ones. The answers are very different. Some heroes never overcome their selfishness and cruel attitude towards loved ones; demonstrate the inability of a “littered” mind to understand the main thing, the inability to perform a good, worthy deed. Others strive and know how to live truly: to love, to learn, to share knowledge, to wait, to lose, but to regain hope and be true to themselves. Complex collisions that arise in the destinies of the heroes and characters in the book help us take a closer look at the circumstances of the spiritual life of the recent past and present, as well as suggest ways of its development in the future. The writer's works are distinguished by their thrill of plot, depth of penetration into the topic, and picturesque language.

Talented storyteller Viktor Likhonosov

Viktor Likhonosov is a nominee for the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize.

Viktor Ivanovich Likhonosov was born on April 30, 1936 at Topki station (now Kemerovo region). He spent his childhood and teenage years in Novosibirsk. In 1943, his father died at the front, and the seven-year-old boy experienced all the hardships of fatherlessness. A native of Siberia, fate takes him south, to Kuban, where from 1956 to 1961 the future author studied at the Faculty of History and Philology of the Krasnodar Pedagogical Institute. According to Viktor Ivanovich, his favorite pastime during his student years was reading, “in the evenings he sat in the tiny reading room of the hostel.” One of the favorite places for reading also became for the future writer the reading room of the regional library named after. A. S. Pushkin. He enthusiastically reads works of Russian and foreign classical literature, literary magazines “New World”, “Our Contemporary”, “Moscow”, “Questions of Literature” and others, “Literary Newspaper.

Immediately after graduating from university, he worked as a teacher in special boarding schools in the Krasnodar region: Art. Varenikovskaya, Crimean district and village. Vinogradny Anapa district. From that time on, his “first literary attempts” began.

His first story, “The Bryansks,” sent to A. T. Tvardovsky to Novy Mir, was published in 1963 in the eleventh issue of this magazine, immediately making the young writer famous throughout the country. In 2003, the story “The Bryansks” was included in the collection “Masterpieces of Russian Literature of the 20th Century”.

Viktor Likhonosov’s entry into great literature was rapid. One after another, his books of stories, short stories, and essays are published in Moscow, Novosibirsk, and Krasnodar: “Evenings,” “Something Will Happen,” “Voices in Silence,” “Happy Moments,” “Autumn in Taman,” “Clean Eyes” , “Family”, “Elegy”. In 1966 he was admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR.

Very early on, famous critics started talking about Viktor Likhonosov, who noted his ability to masterfully merge words and music, sadness and delight, pride and sorrow, burning modernity and irrelevant historical material. The highest assessment of his work was given by Y. Seleznev, O. Mikhailov, V. Chalmaev, A. Nuikin, O. Kuchkina, N. Mashovets. Tvardovsky wrote that “Likhonosov’s prose shines like Bunin’s.”

Since 1978, Likhonosov has been silent for ten whole years, working on his main novel about the fate of the Russian Cossacks, “Unwritten Memoirs. Our little Paris" (1986). This lyrical-epic canvas, connecting modernity with the past, has become a literary monument to Ekaterinodar.

Likhonosov's literary work has received state awards: the Order of the Badge of Honor (1984) and the Order of Friendship (1996). In 2006, the writer was awarded one of the highest awards of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, 3rd degree.

Viktor Ivanovich is an honorary citizen of the city of Krasnodar, has the title “Hero of Labor of Kuban”, laureate of the regional literary awards named after. Y. G. Kukharenko (1993) and them. K. V. Rossinsky (1996). His name is in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979) and the Great Encyclopedic Dictionary of Russia (2003) and numerous literary encyclopedias. The works of V. I. Likhonosov have been translated into European languages: English, French, German, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian and others.

Vasily Dvortsov – prose writer, poet, publicist

Vasily Dvortsov is a nominee for the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize.

Born on February 15, 1960 in the city of Tomsk. Since 1983 he has been working as a restoration artist. In addition to team work on the restoration of churches, he personally painted two churches in Siberia. He painted and restored several hundred icons throughout Russia. He entered professional literature at the age of forty. Today, Dvortsov is recognized by his colleagues as the author of epic prose and poetic works that have had a significant influence on the national literary process.

The work of prose writer, poet and publicist Vasily Dvortsov is an example of the arrival and establishment of new Russian literature - church-going literature. Reacting to all the challenges of the time, responding to all the pains and joys of his people and the Fatherland, not giving in to the most pressing topics and complex tasks, Vasily Dvortsov with his creativity expands the Orthodox cultural space, investing the talent given to him from above in the cause of education, in the preaching of Christian ideals by means beauty and power of the Russian word. The heroes of Dvortsov’s works are always effectively moral, and through their purposeful truth-seeking, without unnecessary didactics and without leaving the genre framework of secular literature, the author leads the reader to higher motivations, to an understanding of the pricelessness of God’s gift - human life.

In addition to his personal writing, Vasily Dvortsov devotes a lot of his time to working with young prose writers and poets: he is the president of the All-Russian festival-competition “Poetry of the Russian Word” (Anapa), the organizer and director of the All-Russian Nekrasov seminars for aspiring writers (N. Novgorod), the organizer and Chairman of the jury of the All-Russian festival-competition "Crystal Spring" (Eagle), Chairman of the jury of the international festival of Slavic poetry "Shores of Friendship" (Taganrog), director of Krasnodar and other regional seminars, festivals and competitions for aspiring writers. Constantly speaks on issues of preserving traditions and developing the Russian language, literature and Russian culture.

He is the author of the following works (main): “Az Buki Knew...” - a novel-judgment about the political passions of the early 90s; the novel "Cain's Knee" - a study of modern theater and the ruin of unspiritual acting; the encyclopedia novel “Terra Obdoria” - a book from a tetralogy about the fate of the last Soviet generation, which experienced changes and turning points in the political and social system; the story “Life and Joy reigned all around”, a reflection on the spiritual quest of modern youth, on the eternal complexity of the relationship between fathers and children; “Then When It Happens” is a story about recent events in Chechnya, about the military feat of self-sacrifice; The romantic story “Angel Angelina” is about church restoration in the USSR. “The Never-Ending Patericon” (“Manefa”) - stories about the unique ways of acquiring faith and accepting monasticism by the author’s acquaintances and friends. The collection “Sunday Theater Plays” is an example of the possibility of modern moral dramaturgy. The poem “The Right World” glorifies the feat of the writer’s grandfather, a Kuban Cossack, a cavalry officer who went through the entire Patriotic War.

The works of Vasily Dvortsov have been awarded many all-Russian and international literary awards, including those of the Holy Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. His novels and stories were republished several times, his poems were included in the anthology “Russian Poetry. XXI century" and "Prayers of Russian poets. XX-XXI". An opera of the same name was written based on the poem “Ermak”.

Historian and writer Dmitry Volodikhin

Dmitry Volodikhin is a nominee for the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize.

Born into the family of an officer of the USSR border troops and a teacher in Moscow. In 1986 he graduated from school No. 39 in Moscow. In 1987-1989 he served as a private in the air defense forces of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.

In 1986-1993, he was a student at the Faculty of History at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov and, later, a graduate student at Moscow State University.

Specializes in the history of medieval Rus', archival studies, and paleography. Since 1991 he has been working at the Department of Source Studies and Historiography of Moscow State University. Since 1994, he has been a member of the editorial and publishing council of the Institute of Special Historical Disciplines of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Since 1995 - Candidate of Historical Sciences. He defended his dissertation based on materials from the archives of the Moscow Patriarchal House. Since 2011 - Doctor of Historical Sciences. Defended his dissertation “The Social Composition of the High Command of the Russian Armed Forces in the 1530s-1570s.” In 2014 he was confirmed with the rank of professor.

Lives in Moscow. Married since 2000. In 2001, he received the Holy Sacrament of Baptism. He defines his socio-political views as statist and imperial. According to Dmitry Volodikhin, “Patriotism is the main refuge of decent people.” He is one of the modern theorists of the civilizational approach in Russian historical science.

In 1995-2001 taught a number of training courses at the University of the Russian Academy of Education. In 1995, he received 1st prize at the Moscow State University Competition for Young Scientists for the book “The Struggle for Polotsk between Lithuania and Russia in the XII-XVI centuries,” written together with D. N. Alexandrov.

In 1993-2007 - editor, deputy editor-in-chief, executive director of the Avanta+ publishing house. Head of the projects “Anthology of World Children's Literature” and “Anthology of World Science Fiction”. He worked as an editor at the Planeta publishing house. In 2007-2008 - editor of the culture department in the socio-political publication “Political Journal”. From 1997 to 2009, he headed his own publishing house, Manufactura. Founder and editor-in-chief (1997-2001) of the magazine “Russian Middle Ages”. From 2008 to 2012 - deputy editor-in-chief of the historical and cultural magazine “Svoy” by Nikita Mikhalkov.

In 2013 he was awarded the Russian Academic Prize named after Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Macarius (Bulgakov) for the monograph “Pozharsky”.

D.M. Volodikhin created scientific and artistic “portraits” of St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow, holy noble princes Peter and Fevronia of Murom, leaders of the zemstvo liberation movement of 1612, Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky and Prince Dmitry Timofeevich Trubetskoy, Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich ah, the commander of the prince Ivan Petrovich Shuisky and other major personalities of Moscow Rus'.

From a literary point of view, these essays are written with high quality, and from a moral point of view, they give our contemporaries a good example of serving God and the fatherland. In all these essays the position of the author as an Orthodox person and a patriot is clearly expressed. Through the images of great historical figures who lived according to the Gospel Commandments, the author seeks to strengthen the Christian ethical ideal in the minds of our contemporaries.

About the work of Irina Bogdanova

Irina Bogdanova is a nominee for the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize.

She was born on October 5, 1957 in the family of a Soviet Army officer and a teacher of Russian language and literature - the granddaughter of a new martyr. After school, she graduated from Leningrad Higher Pedagogical School No. 4 (full-time, 1976) and worked as a teacher in a kindergarten. It was her work as a teacher that pushed Irina Anatolyevna to literary activity. Not finding a single book that could clearly tell children about Russian folk art, she decided to write it herself. To date, the writer has already created several wonderful books that help children get acquainted with the original Russian culture.

Then, for family reasons, she went to work at GUPTEK as a gas boiler operator, but then returned to kindergarten again, from where she retired.

Irina Bogdanova’s books are popular: both children and adults eagerly read them. Reflecting on life, the author talks about love and kindness, courage and nobility. Some of the author's works have been published more than once: young readers love magical adventures. There are many such adventures on the pages of books, including “The Great Russian Tale of How Olya and Kolya saved the Thirtieth Kingdom”, “The Tale of the Zernovushka Doll and Magic Toys”, “The Tale of Merry Miracles and Their Little Mistress”, “Stories from Kotofeyska." To this day, she continues to compose her amazingly kind and magical works for young readers. However, her creative arsenal includes not only fairy tales, but also journalism and novels: “Life at a Glance,” “Three Annas,” “A Summer-Long Dream” and others. Two of them, “The Measure of Being” and “The House Where They Wait for You,” were awarded at the “Enlightenment through the Book” competition. One of the author’s books, “The Fairytale ABC,” was included in the federal target program “Culture of Russia.”

In the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal to the Apostles were announced and awarded. The award was established in 2009 and was first awarded in 2011. Both ecclesiastical and secular authors can receive the award. The examination of works is carried out by a council of experts. He is appointed by the House of Trustees, which includes representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the literary community. The Chamber approves the long and short lists of nominees and then selects the laureates.

Over the course of five years, the Patriarchal Literary Prize has won special recognition in the literary community. In the opening speech of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' there was not a word about the nominees, only about the most important thing - that Russian spiritual culture has always been literary-centric, the moral idea has always stood at the center of creativity.

“It is important to pay attention to literature, to help writers who, with their creativity, affirm the traditional values ​​of our people,” the patriarch noted. “A person communicates with thousands of readers through a book. So that our modern literature, developing the traditions of Russian classical literature, rooted in hagiographic literature, and today I helped our people admire the image of a holy man."

Of the 37 nominees on the short list this year, there are 8 candidates. Among them are literary critic Vladimir Voropaev, historian Dmitry Volodikhin, poet-bards Novella Matveeva and Archpriest Leonid Safronov, actor and director Nikolai Burlyaev.

“To be among the applicants for the Patriarchal Literary Prize is a very high award in itself,” says People’s Artist of Russia Nikorlay Burlyaev. “Personally, I am happy that I lived to see this day, because I never thought of being an actor, but I became an actor, then a director, I always dreamed of being a writer."

Based on the results of a secret vote, which took place during the ceremony, the winners were poet Yuri Kublanovsky, prose writer Alexander Segen and front-line writer Yuri Bondarev. A participant in the Great Patriotic War, he built fortifications near Smolensk in 1941, then fought at Stalingrad, participated in the liberation of Kyiv, and reached Poland and Czechoslovakia. Bondarev is the author of numerous novels. The most famous are “Liberation”, “Hot Snow”, “Battalions Ask for Fire”. Yuri Bondarev is sure that literature is called upon to affirm the boundary between good and evil. The main thing for a writer here is conscience.

“Without art there is no technology, without art there is no goodness, there is no justice, there is no great reverence for man and his abilities,” Bondarev said. “Why does a state exist on earth? So that a living creature endowed with reason proves that it is capable of creating ".

Writers of different views and directions became nominees and laureates of the Patriarchal Permia. Another thing is important.

“This must be faith coming from the depths of the heart, and literature that is in harmony with this faith,” said Alexander Arkhangelsky.

The Patriarchal Prize is awarded "For a significant contribution to the development of Russian literature." And this time its laureates are writers who affirm spiritual and moral values ​​in human life, family and society.

In September, the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church opens the seventh season of the Patriarchal Literary Prize. Applications from applicants for this award will be accepted until February 2017. Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk, Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, reflects on how modern literature reflects the spiritual state of a person and the connection between different eras. His article is dedicated to the work of this year's Patriarchal Literary Prize laureates - priest Nikolai Blokhin, prose writer Boris Ekimov, literary critic Boris Tarasov.

There are different periods in history. One is called gold, the other, for example, silver or bronze. The secular culture of Russia knows two special eras of its heyday, called the golden and silver ages. Obviously, both periods are associated with the desire of society to comprehend the surrounding reality and its tragic experience (be it the war with Napoleon or the Russian revolutions of the early twentieth century), turning to the spiritual potential of the Russian people, to those most important values ​​that were once the basis and still have now determined the uniqueness of Russia's civilizational development. This was reflected in the development of philosophical thought and in various types of art, especially in Russian literature.

In the current post-Soviet era, the need for self-identification is also acutely felt, which, in particular, is reflected in the search for a national idea, a unifying principle for modern Russian society. The Russian Orthodox Church, which has preserved the most important values ​​of Russian civilization for centuries, supports that modern Russian literature that helps find answers to these pressing questions. In this regard, let’s try to think about how the modern period of the history of Russian literature differs, considering the work of the latest nominees for the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius.

Prose writers became its new laureates this year Boris Nikolaevich Tarasov, Boris Petrovich Ekimov And Priest Nikolai Blokhin. These are people of different fates, but there is a noticeable common component in their work. With a variety of topics and genres of works, all three authors transmit to the modern reader the eternal norms of Christian ethics, as an active, practical part of the worldview that our people have adopted since the Baptism of Rus' by the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. And another unifying principle is the fact that they all survived the Soviet era, when a direct and frank presentation of religious views and even a kind word addressed to the Church was persecuted by the atheist state.

Priest Nikolai Blokhin in the Soviet years, while not yet a priest, he was arrested and spent several years in prisons and camps for the illegal publication and distribution of Orthodox literature. It was then, in prison, that he wrote his first story, “Grandma’s Glass.” He even jokes that prison made him a writer. Today he is the author of many books well known to Orthodox readers: “The Deep Mire,” “Give Up Your Brother,” “The Chosen One,” “Paul,” “Frontier,” “The Christmas Tale,” “Vladimirskaya.”

The perception of any sorrows as a source of human rebirth, as a motivating principle for his internal change, runs through the entire work of the author. This leitmotif was internally suffered and understood by priest Nikolai Blokhin from personal life experience. It is no coincidence that he said exactly this in his response at the ceremony of awarding the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.

The theme of Christian faith, its acquisition, Baptism as the greatest sacrament and the main event in a person’s life, the choice between faith and its denial, between yielding to sin and fighting it, occupies a central place in the work of priest Nikolai Blokhin. It is this that is the main core around which other themes, ideas, and characters are located. It is to her that everything in the narrative is subordinated. For example, in the stories “Grandma’s Glasses” and “The Chosen One,” the author depicts how deeply people, including the youngest, very children, changed when they believed and received Baptism, how differently they began to look at the world, at themselves, at those around them. The reader gets the impression that the adult characters are divided primarily on the basis of faith or lack of faith, that this is precisely their defining feature. This is why coming to faith radically changes the adult characters as well.

I have heard that Blokhin’s heroes lack psychologism, which is why they are somewhat schematic and even unreliable. But, in my opinion, most of them are not devoid of the main thing - internal change, as a result of spiritual choice. The absence of subtleties of emotional experiences in the narrative can be explained by the fact that the writer, when creating his characters, sought to focus the reader’s attention on the main thing - to show the responsibility of the person himself for his own choice.

This choice is always alternative: either acceptance of the Savior, the desire to follow Christ, read the Gospel, the lives of the saints, try to follow their example, or unbelief, or even a willingness to communicate with dark forces... According to the author, it is this choice as the focus of spiritual life every person at any age is at the center of the story. He is the main thing that the author wants to tell the reader about, and everything else is secondary, less important. That is why some “schematism” and a lack of “psychologism” in individual images are possible here.

There is an element of fantasy in the books of priest Nikolai Blokhin. It is intertwined with reality, and in the living fabric of his works they cannot be separated.

Often, only children, with their spontaneity, better than anyone else, grasp the essence of what is happening and can express it. In my opinion, the most striking example of this is Alyosha from the story “Give Back Your Brother.” The child, not understanding what the adults intend to do, not knowing at all that what the adults intended (termination of pregnancy) is possible, intuitively senses trouble. Feeling afraid that something is threatening his future brother, he turns to adults (parents and hospital doctors) with the most important request for him: “Give me your brother!” And these words of the child “wake up” the elderly doctor, who thought that over the years of working in such a hospital he had become accustomed to everything. Then he admits that “he hasn’t run like that since the war,” when he found and caught up with Alyosha to tell him that his brother was alive, that he wasn’t killed...

The theme of suffering for faith and readiness for this suffering, the determination to endure it with God's help, but not to retreat, occupies a significant place in the work of Priest Nikolai Blokhin. Here you can remember the teacher Julia, Zoya and Seva-Sevastyan from the story “The Chosen One”.

Of the works of priest Nikolai Blokhin, the most artistically powerful, in my opinion, is the story “The Deep Mire,” which tells about the events of the Civil War. Reality in it is intertwined with elements of fantasy, each character has his own story, and it is not immediately and not always clear to the reader why suddenly this particular hero sees a mysterious monastery, a place of salvation for many, when other people do not see it. One of the most important thoughts in this story is the hope for the possibility of repentance, which remains with a person even when it is obvious that he has committed terrible atrocities, and by earthly standards this cannot be forgiven. In this regard, the first thing that comes to mind is the Red Army commander Vzvoev, who also suddenly saw that monastery and even found himself in it.

The writer conveys to the reader the idea of ​​the importance of preserving Orthodoxy by every living generation, despite the obstacles inherent in its time. This is very important not only for us living today, but also for our descendants. Spiritual succession is the essence of the history of our people as a whole and the individual families that make it up, which, like a baton, pass on the Orthodox faith and virtuous life from one generation to another.

The writer who became this year's Patriarchal Prize laureate Boris Petrovich Ekimov- one of the best prose writers not only of our time, but, as it seems to me, of all Russian literature. His works are written at the highest artistic level. This is exemplary (so to speak) prose, created in the best traditions of Russian literature. I remember how many years ago I first read Boris Petrovich’s stories, and they made a very special, unforgettable impression on me.

Each period of the country's history is reflected in its own way in its secular culture. Various works of art: paintings, musical and literary works, and the like, are the most valuable and detailed evidence of the era in which they were created. To a large extent, it is from them that descendants can judge the period as a whole, the development of culture and society, and what worried the people who lived then. Someday, our descendants will judge our time by the cultural heritage of our era, including the literary works of contemporary authors. I think that among the best, worthy prose works in history there will remain the books of Boris Petrovich Ekimov.

Most of his works can be classified as rural prose.. But they all tell not only about the villagers, they are about all people. Love for your small homeland, the beauty of your native nature, habit and craving for rural work, for your land, joy, sorrow, worries, relationships between relatives and fellow villagers - all this is in the works of B.P. Ekimova. One of his collections (“Return”) has the subtitle “Stories about Living Life.” This is the most accurate definition of the essence of all the writer’s prose.

There are many themes in his works, they are intertwined with each other into a complex artistic whole, they cannot be divided into components or separated from each other. When asked what, for example, one of the best stories in all Russian literature, “The Shepherd’s Star,” is about, it is impossible to give a monosyllabic answer. It is better to advise you to read it.

Boris Ekimov's novels and stories are imbued with the Christian spirit, including those in which there is no direct mention of Christian realities. Let me again remember “The Shepherd Star” and its main character Timofey, for whom the moral principle “thou shalt not steal” is so natural that it does not even occur to him that he can appropriate other people’s sheep. At first he cannot even think that this is exactly what the owner who hired him as a shepherd intended. Timofey himself does not take what belongs to others.

“I don’t even need someone else’s,” he removed the money. - No matter how many times I passed, thank God I wasn’t flattered. But what about... People are crying somewhere, and we will crow with happiness, - he said weakly, but still hoping to convince . “You can’t thrive on other people’s tears.”

The whole image of the village simpleton, in which the greatness of the Russian spirit is focused, appears before the reader in the same lively, uncontrived, whole way. Timofey is truly responsible for his work, remembers the advice of the old shepherd, from whom he himself once learned. He lives in full force only in his small homeland, near his native farm, where he is surrounded by nature that is close to his heart, so familiar and at the same time the most beautiful.

But for all his simplicity, Timothy has wisdom. He is not offended by the owner's teenage son, who at first behaves somewhat arrogantly. Over time, Timofey becomes a truly close person to this boy. Unobtrusively, he convinces the teenager that it is impossible to spoil the growing bread. You cannot let a herd into the field, because even if the authorities are ready to turn a blind eye to this, a person should not act against his conscience:

“Don’t waste your bread. Poisoning bread is a great sin.”

The story “The Mistress” clearly illustrates how yielding to one sin leads to a whole chain of subsequent ones. The main character Olga is widowed and wants to find her happiness with Mikhail, a childhood friend who has had a wife and children for a long time. Dreaming of destroying someone else's family and living together with someone else's husband, Olga goes further and further along the path of untruth, hardening her heart. She kicks the mother of her deceased husband out of the house in which she lived all her life, despite the fact that her mother-in-law always helped her raise her daughters and took on the hardest work. Olga forces her to move to another village to live with her daughter, where she is not very welcome, and then refuses to take her back. When the old woman asks with tears to let her spend her last earthly years in this house, Olga emphasizes that now they are strangers. All the injustice and callousness of Olga’s persistent desire to remain the only mistress in the house is revealed by her relationship with her own daughter Rosa, who insists that grandmother Akulina (“Baba Kulya”) live with them. After all, for her, “babanechka” is the dearest and most beloved person.

The story “Speak, Mom, Speak...” is about complete mutual understanding and true love between a long-grown daughter and mother. Both, from a distance, are able to feel what is especially important to a loved one, and give him exactly that. Both know, remember and take care of what their loved one loves and values.

Even though these works do not directly talk about Christianity, such was the era, but moral values ​​are spelled out everywhere in them.

The 2016 Patriarchal Prize laureates included Boris Nikolaevich Tarasov- writer, philosopher, literary critic, Doctor of Philology, professor of the M. Gorky Literary Institute, who headed it as rector for many years, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation.

In the “Life of Remarkable People” series, Boris Nikolaevich Tarasov published two books. These are artistic biographies of Christian thinkers Pascal and Chaadaev. I believe that most readers appreciate this probably oldest book series, which dates back to 1890. It was from this time that the publishing house F.F. Pavlenkov began to publish biographical and artistic-biographical books under a general title. Later, in the 30s of the 20th century, the series was resumed by Maxim Gorky.

Both books by Boris Tarasov are in demand by readers and have been reprinted several times. The wide readership, in my opinion, knows both thinkers somewhat “one-sidedly”: one as a scientist, the other as a contemporary of Pushkin, the addressee of his lines, a man whom the government declared crazy for his writings. Other aspects of their activities remain as if in the shadows. Meanwhile, Chaadaev himself considered himself a Christian thinker. In the books of B.N. Tarasova B. Pascal and P.Ya. Chaadaevs are revealed as versatile, deep personalities. Boris Nikolaevich has done a tremendous amount of work. He studied and analyzed many sources, resulting in his books that were very informative and entertaining.

In addition to the above-mentioned biographical works, Boris Tarasov published a number of educational books (“In the world of man”, “Where history is moving”, “The historiosophy of F.I. Tyutchev in the modern context”, “Man and history in Russian religious philosophy and classical literature”, “ The mystery of man" and the mystery of history (unread Chaadaev, unheard Dostoevsky, unidentified Tyutchev)", "Dostoevsky and the modern world", etc. He also prepared a two-volume book "Nicholas the First and His Time" and a one-volume book "Knight of Autocracy"), the titles of which indicate the author's constant interest in the history of Russian literature and its connections with religious philosophy.

I would like to particularly focus on the book by B.N. Tarasov “Where history is moving (Metamorphoses of people and ideas in the light of the Christian tradition).” In it, the author consistently pursues a relevant idea: when they try to replace Christian values ​​with some other values, even the most seemingly good, humane, humane ones, nothing truly good and bright comes out as a result. All attempts to replace Christian values, Christian norms, Christian views with any others, supposedly aimed at the benefit of individuals and all humanity, which have been made more than once in history and are being undertaken in our time, do not lead to anything good. If the foundation is not based on the Christian hierarchy of values, if these values ​​are distorted, then everything done on such a foundation most often turns out to be evil for man and the world around him, although, as it seemed, those who tried to build on such a foundation were pursuing good goals.

In the book by B.N. Tarasov “Where History is Moving” is about famous Russian writers, philosophers and political figures of the 19th century (emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I, Westerners, Slavophiles, soil scientists, F.I. Tyutchev, A.S. Pushkin, P.Ya. Chaadaev , K.N. Leontiev, L.N. Tolstoy) and about their contemporaries. Exploring their heritage in a variety of aspects: cultural, literary, philosophical, social, the author analyzes the problems they faced and ways to solve them in the complex context of Russian and world history.

At first glance, it may seem that the 19th century is fairly well studied and is largely known to most people. Domestic and world history of this century, as well as the classics of Russian literature in our country are studied at a school desk. This period of history is widely represented in research, popular science and fiction. But it should be noted that ideas about it in our society are, as a rule, superficial, insufficient and, importantly, contain a significant number of cliches.

The special value of the works of B.N. Tarasov is that he consistently, on a strictly scientific basis, destroys many templates. One of the most striking examples is the attitude towards Emperor Nicholas I, the assessment of his personality and the period of his reign. From a school history course, most students learn that this was an era of reaction, stagnation in all areas of life, and the emperor himself is perceived by them as a strangler of all freedom, an “offender” of the best poets, writers and generally thinking people - like “Nikolai Palkin.” Opposing this cliché, Boris Nikolaevich Tarasov convincingly shows that the figure of the emperor was not so unambiguously gloomy, and the years of his reign cannot be characterized only as a time of complete darkness in all spheres of life. The researcher gives many examples from the life and work of the emperor, which convince the reader that Nicholas I had many positive qualities that were important and necessary for governing the state, and his deeds for the benefit of the country are numerous and undeservedly forgotten.

I consider it very valuable that B.N. Tarasov does not go to the other extreme, maintaining a critical assessment of historical figures. It happens that authors who write about someone undeservedly forgotten or who has received an undeserved “dark halo” in history become too carried away with apologetics and create in their works an unrealistically positive, to some extent “inanimate” image. In the studies of B.N. Tarasov, the historical truth is preserved, the heroes remain real people with both advantages and disadvantages. The author does not idealize the actions of the heroes of his books, does not present them in a “favorable” light, and does not select justifications for any of their actions. He recognizes not all the thoughts and actions of those he writes about as true.

Thanks to the works of B.N. Tarasov presents the reader with a much more real, versatile 19th century with all its contradictions, with many interesting and important people who lived at that time. The author does not just list facts and write about emperors, writers, philosophers, he gives the reader the opportunity to comprehend historical and cultural patterns and the significance of Christian values, norms, and traditions in history.

In conclusion, it should be noted that this year’s Patriarchal Literary Prize laureates in their own way reflect the diversity of modern literature, rooted in the Orthodox worldview. Years of atheistic censorship in Russian culture have not weakened the creative potential of writers who convey Orthodox moral principles and beliefs. And today we need more such writers. I don’t know what the contemporary period of Russian literature will be called. But its distinctive feature, in my opinion, is the interest of many talented authors in the spiritual laws of existence and their manifestation in the realities of our time.