One of the most renowned publishing houses in our nation was founded in 1972 with the goal of meeting the demand for Belarusian literature both domestically and abroad.
On the foundation of the editorial departments of the fiction and children's book publishing house “Belarus”, an independent specialised publishing company called “Fiction”, was founded in 1972. The main direction of its activity was defined as the production of high-quality book products aimed at increasing the intellectual potential of the country, increasing interest in reading as the most important factor in the development of national culture. The publication of original works of Belarusian writers in Belarusian, Russian and foreign languages, works of foreign authors translated into Belarusian, collections of works and selected works, books on literary studies and criticism is connected with the activity of the publishing house.
The “Fiction” publishing house organized editorial offices for poetry and prose, collected works, translated literature, criticism and drama, and literature of the peoples of the USSR. The new publishing house adequately presented the first volumes of collected works by Y. Kolas and K. Chorny, A. Kuleshov's poem “Far from the Ocean”, books of poems by A. Gurlo, A. Rusak and others. “The First Book of a Poet”, “The First Book of a Prose Writer”, “Poetry of the Peoples of the World”, and “Library of a Foreign Language” are only a few examples of the numerous publications that were released in book series, each with its unique function and meaning. Later, other series such as “Memory”, “Belarusian poetry of the 20th century”, “Treasures of World Literature” and other were created.
For the first time in the practice of Belarusian book publishing, the “Fiction” has mastered the production of miniature books. The first of them were the Belarusian-language collections of poems by Y. Kolas and Y. Kupala, published in 1972 in the format 65x80 mm for the 90th anniversary of the birth of the poets. Also published are Y. Kupala's poem “Tarasov’s fame” (66x96 mm), P. Brovka's collection of poems “You are My Bee”, A. Mickiewicz's ballad “Svitezyanka” (65x68 mm), and others. All such publications have a high artistic value, high-quality printing performance, and original design. In the 1990s, it was in the publishing house “Fiction” that facsimile editions of M. Bogdanovich, Y. Kupala, Y. Kolas, M. Tank and others were first printed.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the publishing house underwent structural changes: the “Youth” publishing house, founded in 1981, joined it. Since 2002, “Fiction” has significantly increased its activity as the main state publisher of Belarusian fiction and literature for children and youth. Its repertoire expanded by publishing scientific, popular science, industrial and practical, educational, mass-political and reference literature. The publishing house's strategy is to search for new promising authors, publish original works and book series in all genres of fiction and popular science literature, and distribute them on the book market.
Today “Fiction” holds the brand of one of the most prestigious publishing houses in Belarus. Its publications are of a high calibre, as evidenced by the numerous national and international awards it has received. In 2019, awards in various categories of the Art of Books contest were awarded to collections of works “No need to be alone” by V. Polikanina, “Fathers’ Land is Holy...” (series “100 of Verses”), “Lotus Petals and chrysanthemums: one hundred poets of China of the 20th century”, etc. The staff of the institution works tirelessly to improve the publishing process, implement new projects, fruitfully cooperate with famous writers and artists, discover new names.
Information about the publisher can be found at on the website "Fiction", as well as in the online encyclopedia of the National Library of Belarus "Belarus in faces and events".
The article was prepared by the Bibliography Research Department.
