Capri: Gorky Festival 2011

On May 22, 2011 on the famous island Capri near Naples started international literary contest "Gorky Prize". "There is amazingly beautiful, it is a kind of infinitely varied fairy tale. Capri is a tiny, but delicious piece. Here you are drunk, fun and can do nothing. All are watching every time and smiling". These words of Gorky about Capri explain why this beautiful Italian island was selected as the venue for the award.

This year competition is held for the third time. Peculiarity of the current contest is the fact that it is a part of the year of Russian culture in Italy.

"Gorky Prize" is a contest, where awards receive Russian and Italian writers and translators. Italy is a country, where is traditionally strong interest in Russian culture and, especially, literature. Therefore, "Gorky Prize" is traditionally a phenomenon that extends beyond the boundaries of Capri and becomes an event of international level.

Partners of this contest are regional public fund of Viktor Chernomyrdin, "Support and development of the middle class", and the Municipality of Capri. The action is held under the patronage of the Ministries of Culture of Russia and Italy and the Russian Embassy in Rome, according to Vesti.ru.

At the contest guests will be presented an exhibition of photographs of the famous Russian visitors of the Capri islands in the beginning of the century. As it is known, not only Gorky loved Capri. Here stayed Chaliapin, Bunin, Repin and Stanislavsky. Their photos can be seen throughout the Capri at the time of the contest. Exhibits for the exhibition have been provided from the vaults of the Institute of World Literature RAS and Moscow's Gorky House-Museum.

The contest lasts from 22 to 24 of May. The final day of competition will be the day of awarding the winners. The prize will be awarded in the hall of the monastery Certosa of San Giacomo. In addition, at the contest is planned to be held the round table "Russian History of the twentieth century in Italian literature" with the participation of Italian and Russian literary critics. This year the chairmen of the jury will became linguist Giovanni Bololo and Russian writer Viktor Erofeev.