The National Centre RUSSIA hosted the presentation of RT's poetry collection "Poetry of the Russian Winter"

On November 16, the National Centre RUSSIA held a poetry evening and presentation of RT's collection "Poetry of the Russian Winter," published in collaboration with Lira Publishing House. The book features works by 27 authors who have been creating new Russian frontline poetry since 2014. The foreword to the collection was written by author Zakhar Prilepin.

"We are proud that we managed to bring together under one cover the best of our poets: patriotic poets, war poets, poets writing about the Special Military Operation, about Novorossiya, and about what is happening today. I personally reviewed every poem sent to us, selecting them myself and experiencing all this pain firsthand, because these poems are so talented, so profound, so well-crafted, and so deeply Russian that it’s impossible not to feel this pain. Their strength, talent, intensity, and creative passion are on par with the best examples of poetry from the Great Patriotic War that we all learned in our childhood," said RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.

At RT's poetry evening, guests heard poems from the new collection performed by their authors. The readings featured both well-known poets, such as Anna Dolgareva, Alexander Pelevin, German Titov, and Igor Karaulov, and young authors, including Dinara Kerimova, Sofia Yudina, and others.

"During the Special Military Operation, poetry has become more in demand and has found a wide audience, whereas previously it was mostly a niche interest of Moscow and St. Petersburg critics. I believe this happened because, during the operation, poetry offered people answers to many questions," noted poet and writer Alexander Pelevin.

Singer-songwriter Alexei Poddubny, better known as "Django," performed at the presentation with his band of the same name. From 2015 to 2022, the musicians played over a hundred concerts in the Donetsk People’s Republic. During the poetry evening, they performed a song about true frontline friendship.

The musical program also included a performance by Moscow's ideologically patriotic rock band Zveroboy, well known to residents of the new territories. Since the beginning of the Special Military Operation, the band has visited Donbass multiple times as part of creative agitation brigades and even produced a documentary titled "Mariupol Through Our Eyes."

The evening concluded with a book signing session where attendees could have their copies signed by their favorite authors.

RT's lyrical poetry collection "Poetry of the Russian Winter" was first presented in September 2024 at the Moscow International Book Fair (MIBF). Earlier, in 2022, RT released the collection "Poetry of the Russian Summer," which also featured works on military themes.

The National Centre RUSSIA was established by order of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, to preserve the legacy of the International RUSSIA EXPO and to showcase the achievements of the country and its citizens on a permanent basis. Federal government agencies, state companies, corporations, and regions take part in the Centre’s work. The first event at the National Centre RUSSIA was the International Symposium "Inventing the Future," which welcomed more than 6,000 guests from 101 countries.

The National Centre RUSSIA is located at 14 Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, Moscow. The Centre is open from 10:00 to 20:00 every day except Monday.