By Edward Nawotka

For the first time in many years the Russian Federation has taken a collective stand at BookExpo America. “The goal,” said Vladimir V. Grigoriev, deputy head of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication, “is to re-introduce American readers to the rich literary culture of Russia. They tend to think of our 19th century writers, but not our contemporary writers and publishers.”

Currently, says Grigoriev, there are some 5,700 publishers in Russia producing more than 120,000 books a year, placing Russia alongside the US, UK and China as one of the world’s largest publishing industries. Yet, despite this prodigious output, just a handful of Russian writers are published in the US each year.

And readers of this newsletter are invited to a reception at the Russian Collective Stand (booth 2315) at 4:30pm today.