April 13, 2011
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This year Russia has become the honorary guest of the book fair with an opportunity to present to the Western reader a wide range of new books written in very diverse literary genres. Presented at the book fair are 70 leading publishing houses in Russia and literary works of over 50 modern Russian authors.
Present at the official opening of the Russian pavilion were S. Naryshkin, head of the Presidential Administration, M. Seslavinsky, head of the Federal Agency for the Press and Mass Media, M. Shvydkoy, Presidential special representative for international cultural cooperation, A. Yakovenko, Russian Ambassador to Great Britain, and representatives of the Russian authorities and literary public.
Mr. Naryshkin welcomed the participants and guests. He said that ‘Russia’s participation as the honorary guest of the London Book Fair shows the importance of humanitarian relations in today’s relations between Russia and Great Britain’.
He also mentioned the forthcoming presentation of the English version of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill’s book entitled Freedom and Responsibility to take place on the same day. Inviting the guests to the presentation ceremony, he remarked that the book “is written for ‘disquieted’ people who are not indifferent to the future of civilizational processes going on on our planet’.
The English version of Freedom and Responsibility has been published through the joint efforts of the Moscow Patriarchate Publishers and Darton Longman &Todd Publishers with the support of St. Gregory the Theologian’s Charity, the Russian World Foundation and the Baltic Chemical Terminal Ltd. The first copy of the new edition was presented to Mr. Naryshkin by Metropolitan Hilarion.
