Minsk hosts the 23rd International Book Fair. Guests from 29 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, France, the United States and others, will take part in it. Armenia will be the Guest of Honor. Publishers from different countries will present new book projects. The program of the exhibition features meetings with famous Belarusian and foreign writers and a great variety of book products on offer. The Year of Culture in Belarus and the landmark anniversaries to be celebrated in 2016 will be in the spotlight during the event. Among them is the 500th anniversary of the Belarusian book printing, the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, and other anniversaries associated with the names of Maxim Bogdanovich, Ivan Shamyakin, Kondrat Krapiva, Ivan Melezh, and Vladimir Mulyavin. The program of the expo features themed roundtables and the continuation of the Family Happiness campaign that will invite visitors to read Belarusian literature classics together.
Participants of the fair from many different countries organize interesting events. Our correspondent Marina Dragina talked to French Embassy's first counselor on politics, cooperation and culture Elsa Pignol to find out more details about their program this year:
"This is the 6th time we take part in the Fair, and for us participation is very important. Every year we try to highlight one of the French regions as we prepare our exhibition booth, we want to let Belarusian people learn more about France and its diversity. This year we dedicated our booth to the region of Brittany, which lies on the shores of the Atlantic ocean. It is a very beautiful and interesting region, though I feel that people here know little about it. It is a region known for very old traditions that are kept alive still. So this year, throughout the days of the Fair, we will be talking about peculiar features and culture of that region.
As usual, we have invited a number of guest participants from France, including French writers, and we will present books of Modern French literature.
We see our annual participation in the Book Fair in Minsk as an opportunity to draw attention of the French-speaking people in Belarus to present-day French literature. We want to show them that there's more to it than classical French writers and books, it is not only Racine, Flaubert and Molière, etc., but many other writers across a variety of genres, those who are prominent figures of the French culture today in literature for children and adults. And as the Fair is always widely covered by the Belarusian mass-media, it dies attract the attention of the public to French books and France in general. That is why we use this opportunity to show that France is more than Paris and the Eiffel Tower, that France is also its regions, which are very interesting and diverse and are definitely worth a visit.
Another important thing for us is to go beyond the capital city, Minsk, and reach out with our cultural program to the Belarusian regions and to the people who are interested in French culture, and literature in particular. Recently, in November if I am not mistaken, we attended the presentation of a French literature section in a library in the town of Baranovichi, earlier, in May 2015, we did a similar thing in Orsha. There are already 10 such sections across Belarusian regions. For us it is very important, because Minsk, the capital city, is not the entire country, and to satisfy the interest towards French language and culture we need to approach the people who live in the regions."
Answer:
Dear Shivendu Paul and Metali Listeners' Club,
dthank you for your comment! We'll send you some of our souvenirs ASAP.
Stay tuned and 73,
RBI
Hallo Radio Belarus,
ja der Dieter Leupold ist jetzt auch hier im Gästebuch vertreten... Super, bald sind wir alle zusammen hier im "Belarus Hörerclub", Dieter könnte 1.Vorsitzender werden und Jana und Elena Ehrernmitglieder, Helmut Matt Schriftführer, Alfred Albrecht Beisitzer und ich mache Hausmeister:-) Lutz Winkler wie fit bist Du bereits wieder, für Dich finden wir auch eine nette Aufgabe:-) Beste Grüße und ein schönes Wochenende.
Dietmar
Answer:
Lieber Dietmar,
das stimmt, für alle finden wir im Hörerklub eine Aufgabe!:)
Liebe Grüße und einen guten Start in die Woche!
I recently learned my surname is not Polish, but Belarusian. I heard you on shortwave in the past and am so happy to listen online in English. We hear nothing about Belarus here in the US so I am so glad to learn about your country. Keep on broadcasting in English. I also joined the Hoererklub on Facebook as I can understand German. If you have information or a station pennant, I will very much appreciate it.
Sheryl Paszkiewicz, 1015 Green St, Manitowoc WI 54220 USA
Answer:
Dear Sheryl, thank you very much for listening to us! We'll send you some of our souvenirs as soon as we can. By the way, if you're interested, you can participate in our "The Old Country's Loving Call" project and send a greeting to Belarus. You can find more detailed information at http://www.radiobelarus.by/en/content/hukaje_eng
Also, in case you like sports, here's the link to an international competition of ours "My Greetings to 2nd European Games" http://www.radiobelarus.by/en/content/games_eng
73 from the entire staff of RBI! Прывiтанне з Малой Радiзмы :)
Hello from Birmingham United Kingdom!
My name is Michael.
I really enjoyed listening to your program on the Hotbird satellite 13e. I very much love listening to your news and current affairs.
Ask you to send me a small gifts. I hope you guys are all good.
Lots of love from UK
Especially enjoying learning about Belarus. History and culture
Michael Rogers
Flat 2 463 City road Birmingham
B17 8LG
United Kingdom
Answer:
Michael,
thank you very much for listening to us! We're glad that you enjoy our programs. We'll send you some of our souvenirs as soon as we can. Best regards and stay tuned!
Hello. I am a new listener to your English service. I listen on the Radio 1 News app. I enjoyed listening to the news. Do you have any information on shortwave broadcasts you can send me?
Thank you,
Joe Cosimo
23 Ivy Ln, Dupont, PA 18641 U.S.A.
Answer:
Dear Joe, thank you for listening to Radio Belarus International! We're glad that you enjoyed our news. RBI broadcasts on shortwave only in German on 6005 and 3985 kHz. News and programs in English are available via our website and satellites. We'll also send you a postcard and a small souvenir as soon as we can. 73!
Hello,
My name is Younes Lazazi, I am from Algeria.
I am very happy that radio Belarus has started broadcasting in Arabic.
I would like to receive stickers and printed matter of the station and the Arabic and french services if possible.
My address:
Monsieur Younes Lazazi 14 rue Maza Boualem El-Harrach 16009 Alger Algérie
Thank you.
Answer:
Dear Younes Lazazi,
we're happy that you like our boradcasts. We'll send you some of our printed materials via mail in the nearest future. 73!
Dear English Service Radio Belarus,
Greetings to all staff and listeners of English Service of Radio Belarus. We listen your webcast program. Your program quality is very nice. Your website is colorful & documented. We liked your programs, News, and Current Affairs Program. We are interested about Culture, life style of Belarusian people, historical places, Tourist attraction and destination of Belarus.
Please send some program schedule, sticker, view card, Promotional items of Radio Belarus for our club members and students.
We are waiting for your reply.
With best wishes,
SHIVENDU PAUL
President
Metali Listeners' Club
India
Answer:
Dear Shivendu Paul,
thank you very much for listening to us! Your club is among our most dedicated listeners. We will send you some of our promotional products as soon as possible. 73!
Hello!
Did the arabic programmes start? I don't see them on your Internetcast schedule page. Thanks!
Answer:
Hello! The Arabic programmes have been on air since October, every Monday. You can see the schedule and listen to them on our Arabic page http://radiobelarus.by/ar
FM transmitters and frequencies:
Rakitnitsa - 106.2 MHz
Hrodna - 95.7 MHz
Svislach - 104.4 MHz
Heraniony - 99.9 MHz
Braslau - 106.6 MHz
Miadzel - 102.0 MHz
Satellite broadcasting:
see satellite parameters here
