"It united the entire country": 12 winners of the Znanie.Authors song poetry contest announced at the National Centre RUSSIA

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On 26 May, the National Centre RUSSIA hosted a meeting of the Organising Committee of the All-Russian Song Poetry Competition Znanie.Authors named after Nikolai Dobronravov. Following the meeting, 13 works by 12 participants from 11 regions of the country were recognised as the winners. The project is being implemented by the Russian society Znanie on the instruction of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin as part of the national project "Youth and Children".

The Znanie.Authors contest was launched on 22 November 2025, the birthday of Nikolai Dobronravov. The submission campaign collected more than 14,000 works from 5,764 authors representing all 89 regions of Russia, as well as the Republic of Belarus. 37 works by 36 authors from 24 Russian regions were shortlisted.

Among the finalists were authors belonging to different generations and professions: students, pensioners, educators, entrepreneurs, engineers and cultural workers. Some participants already had experience in literature and songwriting, while for others the contest became their first opportunity to present their works to experts.

"We must strive to bring genuine songs back into our lives. We decided to begin with the lyrics and give everyone in our country who considers themselves a poet, who believes songs can and should be written to their verses, the opportunity to try themselves in this contest," said Presidential Adviser and Chair of the contest Organising Committee Yelena Yampolskaya.

The winners in the thematic category "Defenders of the Fatherland" were: Lyudmila Anokhina from the Krasnodar Territory with the work "Here, by the Mass Grave"; Irina Ilyina from the Tambov Region with "Everything Will Be Fine, My Dear"; Dmitry Portnyagin from the Irkutsk Region with the poem "A Soldier Was Returning Home"; Vasily Nosov from the Novgorod Region with a poem titled "From a Warrior's Life"; and Vladimir Kuzmichyov from the Republic of Bashkortostan with the work named "Letter".

In the category named "Work, Calling, and Choosing a Path in Life", Olga Valenteyeva and Natalia Kulakova from the Lugansk People's Republic were recognised for their works "A Teacher's Confession" and "Guardian Angels in Uniform".

In the "For Children" category, the winners were: Yekaterina Panova from the Republic of Mordovia with the poem "Let's Draw Childhood"; Valentina Chernyaeva from the Belgorod Region with "The Rainbow Will Reconcile Everyone"; and Anna Zvezdkina from the Nizhny Novgorod Region with "The Twenty-Fifth Hour".

In the "Open Theme" category, the winners were Nadezhda Golovina from Saint Petersburg with two works titled "Sing to Me, Little Nightingale..." and "Springs, Springs...", and Yevgenia Grishayeva from the Novosibirsk Region with the poem "The Day Closes the Shutters".

An online public vote was also held on the national messenger platform MAX until 20 May. A total of 5,305 votes were cast for the finalists' entries. The results of the public vote were considered during the process of selecting the winners.

"A song conveys not only thoughts and knowledge, but also feelings. Through poetry we speak about values, moral guidelines and convictions. This is an important contribution to the formation and development of society and a powerful way of uniting people. Today, when the country faces serious challenges, it is especially important to preserve unity and pass our values on to younger generations. This was one of the key objectives of the contest,” noted Maksim Dreval, Director General of the Russian society Znanie.

Following the end of the contest, the winners will have the opportunity to transform their works into songs. This work will take place within the framework of the project "New Songs of Russia", implemented with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives. One of the project's partners is the Russian society Znanie.

From 1 June to 31 July, composers will create and arrange music for the winning poems, produce backing tracks and musical scores. During the same period, performers will be selected and rehearsals with the orchestra will take place. Studio recordings, mixing and mastering are scheduled for August and September.

The culmination of the project will be a gala concert, where the new songs will be performed for the first time and the winners' awards ceremony will take place. The event is scheduled for 19 November 2026. Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA Natalia Virtuozova proposed that the Organising Committee of the Znanie.Authors contest make full use of the Centre's facilities for the event: "The National Centre RUSSIA was established by order of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. It hosts numerous youth, cultural, educational and international events of importance for the entire country. By the time of the contest, five branches of the National Centre will be operating, each equipped with a concert hall. On that day, we could synchronise connections with regional venues in order to expand the scale of the competition." 

The songs will later be released on major music platforms and social media. The rights for their use will be transferred to educational and cultural institutions, creative groups and solo performers — in total to at least 5,000 recipients across the country.

Another important component of the project will be creative meetings between the competition's winners and finalists and children and young people. These events will take place from 23 November to 28 February in five regions: the Moscow Region, Saint Petersburg, the Rostov Region, the Chuvash Republic and the Novosibirsk Region. Distinguished cultural figures will also take part alongside the authors. Altogether, the meetings are expected to bring together more than 2,400 attendees.