ASU News

From June 4 to 7, the 12th Red Square Book Festival will be held on Moscow's main square. The event coincides with Alexander Pushkin's birthday and Russian Language Day, and is part of the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia.

This marks the third participation of the Adyghe University Publishing House in the festival. Previously, it was represented twice at the "Regions" site, and this year, for the first time, it will showcase its publications at Pavilion No. 2, dedicated to "Children's and Educational Literature."

"The main challenge is that organizers typically view regional publications primarily through their national context—they hear 'Adygea' and automatically categorize them under the 'Regions' pavilion. However, that audience is entirely different. We believe our primary mission is to develop children's literature. It took considerable effort to convince the organizers that our books would appeal not only to those interested in the history and culture of Adygea but also to a broader children's audience. After all, these are high-quality publications on topics accessible to children from any region of the country," explains Leyla Kurashinova, Editor-in-Chief of the Adyghe University Publishing House.

This year, Adyghe State University will present 19 books in Adyghe and Russian, including coloring books, at the Red Square festival.

For the first time, the festival will feature "Lobachevsky and His Time," a book dedicated to the life and accomplishments of the renowned Russian mathematician. This publication is based on the interdisciplinary online quiz "Russia Decides!" as part of the "Science Around. Discoveries Continue" program, implemented by ASU in collaboration with the "Science Mail" portal, with support from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. The authors are Nikolai Andreev, head of the Laboratory for the Popularization and Outreach of Mathematics at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics; Kirill Sukhov, head coach of the Russian team at the International Mathematical Olympiad for School Students; and Leyla Kurashinova, editor of the Adyghe University Publishing House.

The book was previously showcased at the Moscow International Book Fair Non/fiction last December, where all advance copies were sold out.

Most of the publishing house’s books are authored or illustrated by winners of the Kirimize Jane International Children's Literary Competition, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year.

The festival’s stand will also feature a book about Khusen Andrukhaev, a beloved figure from previous exhibitions—an illustrated story about the first Soviet writer from the Adyghe people to become a Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War.

Each year, the festival hosts approximately 400 publishers, over 800 events, and attracts tens of thousands of visitors. Admission to Pavilion No. 2, "Children's and Educational Literature," where the ASU Publishing House booth is located, is free for all attendees.