Updated at 13:52,22-04-2024

Ananich 'Not very keen on Aleksievich's prose'

Artsiom Martynovich, Euroradio

On February 10, there opened the XXIII International Book Fair in Minsk. The opening was attended by Information Minister Liliya Ananich. Euroradio asked the official's opinion about her Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Aleksievich.

According to Lilia Ananich, she came across the works of the Belarusian writer when a student.

Lilia Ananich:. "Svetlana Aleksievich is not a discovery for me, I read her books as a student. The topics related to the Chernobyl tragedy and that of Afghanistan are painful. I remember when a zinc coffin was brought to my village. It had an overlap with what I later read. I cannot say that I'm very excited about the artistic expression... The prose I like is a little different -- maybe more lyrical, more warm. But it is something that I accept. Belarusian literature has this, and that's good."


Books by Svetlana Aleksievich at the "Time" exhibition were presented by a Russian publishing house. In total, 29 countries took part in this year's exhibition.