The 5 June 2020 saw the formal opening of the 15th Saint Petersburg International Book Salon, one of the foremost events in publishing for Russia and Northern Europe. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event is taking place online for the first time.
The guests and participants were congratulated on the opening of the Salon by Saint Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov, Vladimir Grigoryev, deputy head of the Federal Agency for the Press and Mass Communications, and Vladimir Riabovol, chairman of the Saint Petersburg’s Committee on the Press and Interaction with the Mass Media.
The first event of the Book Salon was a virtual plenary session on the topic of “The book industry in the new reality: online transformation and prospects for development”.
Participants in the plenary session included Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage and President of the Union of Museums of Russia; Sergei
Stepashin, President of the Russian Book Union; Zoya Chalova, Director of the Mayakovsky Central City Public Library and President of the Petersburg Library Society; Valentina Orlova, Chairwoman of the Board of the Worldwide Club of Petersburgers; and Natalya Lezunova, Director of the Higher School of the Press and Media Technologies at Saint Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design.
On 6 June, there was a round table on “The Worldwide Club of Petersburgers: publishing projects and actions”. Publishing projects, the annual Bookworm prize and nominees for 2020, and also book-related actions in support of doctors were discussed by Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage and President of the Union of Museums of Russia; Valentina Orlova, Chairwoman of the Board of the Worldwide Club of Petersburgers; Alexei Zakharenkov, a club member and General Director of the Vita Nova publishing house; and Sergei Yaroshetsky, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Adresa Peterburga, (“Petersburg Addresses”).
The Saint Petersburg International Book Salon has been held annually since 2006 and is one of the main evens for avid readers and professionals in the publishing field. The programme for the 15th Book Salon includes more than 30 educational lectures, book launches, debates and round tables. All the events can be followed on the Salon's own website, both live and in recordings.
