TV BRICS and Eksmo-AST to jointly promote a social project to popularise reading

TV BRICS and Eksmo-AST Publishing Group have signed a cooperation agreement within the framework of the ‘Red Square’ Book Festival at the Znanie.Books of the Russian "Znanie" (Knowledge) Society. TV BRICS Editor-in-Chief Ksenia Komissarova and Ekaterina Kozhanova, Director of Strategic Communications at Eksmo-AST Publishing Group and member of the Russian Book Union, acted as signatories.

The cooperation will start with joint work to promote the federal social project "Pages have no borders", which aims to promote books and reading to a wide audience of citizens, increasing interest in literature.

On 1 April 2023, the Russian Book Union (RBC), with the support of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, announced the launch of a social advertising campaign "Pages have no borders" to promote reading among Russians. About 10 publishers have already joined the campaign and in its first stage it will take place in 15 regions of the Russian Federation.

The partnership between TV BRICS and Eksmo-AST Publishing Group is expected to have a positive impact on the cultural landscape of the BRICS broadcast zone and help engage many experts in outreach activities. The joint work will not only include coverage of the "Pages have no borders" campaign on TV BRICS resources.

The partners will join efforts to conduct a large-scale international media campaign in the BRICS countries, partners of the TV BRICS network, as well as at partner universities of the TV BRICS network abroad, to promote Russian literature of different genres, including an emphasis on the methodological potential of contemporary works of fiction in terms of teaching and learning Russian as a foreign language. Thus, the TV BRICS team has expressed its willingness to present authors and works in educational teleconferences held by TV BRICS on the "Modern Russian" project platform for universities in Brazil, India and other countries.

The format of pitching Russian authors at professional film screenings in Russia and abroad for the purpose of adaptation of domestic works and cooperation with international film and television production companies was highlighted as one of the promising avenues.

TV BRICS actively works to promote the publishing industry and national literature of the BRICS countries, including the promotion of works by Russian authors and researchers. The network's partners include the publishers "Ves Mir" (Whole World) and "Foreign Literature". Together with the "Ves Mir" publishing house, TV BRICS released a series of educational programmes "Meetings with a Publisher".

Eksmo-AST Publishing Group was established in 2012. The holding included publishing houses - Eksmo and AST. The key objective of the "Eksmo-AST" publishing holding company is to produce high-quality books, increase the number of Russians who read and increase Russia's intellectual potential. Each year "Eksmo" publishes around 80 million books. One of the key tasks of the publishing house is to discover the names of new national authors and literary heroes, close and understandable to the Russian audience.

The "Red Square" Book Festival is the main literary event in Russia. It takes place in the heart of the Russian capital from 2 to 6 June 2023. The festival programme includes meetings with writers and poets, artists and illustrators, colourful and memorable performances by artists and musicians, introductions to the programmes of the country's leading museums, lectures by scholars, autograph sessions, concerts and master classes.

Book community professionals will discuss topical issues of modern book publishing and book promotion, the most important events in the life of literary associations and creative unions.

Photo: Eksmo-AST press service