Associate Professor Airat Bik-Bulatov wins Derzhavin Prize

A ceremony was held in Laishevo, Russian statesman and poet’s ancestral home, on 14 July, his 280th anniversary.

Derzhavin Prize in Law and Literature has been awarded in Tatarstan since 2000. Odd years are allocated for literature awards. This time, the jury decided to commend KFU employee, poet, critic, and writer Airat Bik-Bulatov for his monumental Essays on the History of Kazanian Journalism (1758 – 1918).

The awardee noted, “The award means a lot. I want Tatarstan to know about my research. Because it is dedicated to the Kazan region and glorifies its journalism and its figures. Kazan is at the origin of provincial press in Russia. Many times Kazanian newspapers and magazines were called the best provincial press in Russia. We should know about it and be proud of it. Gavriil Derzhavin himself can be called one of the originators of the press. It was symbolic for me to receive the Derzhavin Prize and to recall that Derzhavin was the founder of the first provincial newspaper – Tambov News.”

The interviewee plans to continue his research in chronological order, that is, to now study Soviet journalism in Kazan and Tatarstan.

The 976-page Essays on the History of Kazanian Journalism saw light in 2021 and is the first systematic overview of the history of local press since its inception in the 18th century.