The gala closing of the Stars Above Donbass International Science Fiction Festival, which was launched on September 12, took place in the Donetsk State Philharmonic on September 17. According to a correspondent of the DPR official website, its official results were summed up and the participants were awarded this day.
For the second year in a row, such a large-scale event was initiated by the DPR Public Chamber supported by the DPR Head’s Office, the Russian Centre, and the DPR Writers’ Union.
This year, about 100 writers from different countries, including 74 authors from seven regions of the Russian Federation, took part in the festival. Roman Zlotnikov, Andrey Lazarchuk, Sergey Chekmayev, Evgeny Lukin, Mikhail Tyrin, Sergey Volkov, Yuri Burnosov, Dmitry Kazakov and others visited the republic.
According to famous Russian science fiction writer Svyatoslav Loginov, who visited Donetsk for the first time, next year he will be looking forward to come to the DPR capital again.
“There are cities which you want to leave as soon as possible after having done your business. There are cities where you feel like you have come home — and Donetsk is one of such cities. I have come to you for the first time and it feels like I am among my kin. This is wonderful!» he said.
As noted by DPR Public Chamber Chairman Alexander Kofman, the fiction festival itself won’t end after the gala closing.
“In the past days, Donbass has proved to the whole world that we are not only the most industrial and proud but also a most reading, intelligent and thinking region in the world.
But in fact, the festival is not ending today because a new collection of stories will be written until the next festival, we will be working on various projects, the electronic library will be expanding, our friends will be visiting us,” he stressed.
Today, all the participants of the second Stars Above Donbass International Science Fiction Festival were awarded certificates of gratitude from the organizers, and a number of Russian authors were accepted as members of the DPR Union of Writers.
