Greetings from Havana: MAPRYAL Forum in Cuba

Abstract

In 2022 (December 12–14) Havana hosted the International educational and cultural forum “Russian Literature in Latin America: Ideas and Values for the Future of the World”. The forum was organized by the MAPRYAL (International Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature) in cooperation with the University of Havana. The aim of the forum is to strengthen interaction among members of academic and educational communities of Latin American countries studying Russia and its cultural heritage. The forum was attended by over 200 delegates — teachers, scholars, writers, translators, literary critics, representing Cuba and other Spanish-speaking countries (Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, etc.), as well as Russian educational and scholarly institutions. The Russian delegation included representatives of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkinskij Dom) and A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), Pushkin State Institute of the Russian Language, Maxim Gorky Institute of Literature and Creative Writing, Ural Federal and Southern Federal Universities, reputed writers, critics, translators and scholars, among them Evgeny Vodolazkin, Alexey Varlamov, Pavel Basinksy, the representatives of A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, — Vadim Polonsky and Andrey Kofman. Cuban and Latin American Russian studies were also widely represented: at the forum sessions, speeches were made by teachers of Russian, translators, writers, scholars, literary critics, publishers — Omar Lobos, Alejandro Ariel Gonzalez, Ruben Dario Flores, Raul Rodriguez de Silva, Irina Luna and many other reputed professionals whose activities are related to the Russian language and literature.