International Letter Week opened in Novgorod

The Letter Week opened with 4 topical areas in the regional library, with the most notable being a calligraphy workshop. After a brief insight into the history of this art form, any visitor could depict a letter of their name on paper. After that the guests were taught the correct manner of writing a zip code on an envelope. One can hardly overestimate the importance of it as otherwise the letter may just fail to be delivered. “There is a certain decline in handwritten letters but some people still do it the same old way. Postcrossing is also active, they love sending all sorts of postcards or letters all around the country or abroad too. We run an annual contest, which is a regional part of the all-Russian The Best Writing Class contest where children write various topical letters”, said Irina Petrova, Chief Specialist Corporate Communications of the Russian Post in Novgorod region.

As for the library employees, they prepared an entertaining talk about the history of the epistolary genre and a thematic exhibition entitled I am Writing to You. According to the organizers, it was an easy job to produce this mini exhibit, as letter is an important component of literature. “There are pieces that are composed of letters only or where letters between two characters make for a separate storyline. Remember the War and Peace? Letters occupy half of the book. Epistolary novels are also quite common. There are even pieces about modern correspondence that employs computers and Internet”, noted Ekaterina Ligus, Chief Librarian of the scientific and methodological department of the library.

Source: novgorod-tv.ru