World Record: "Minute of Non-Silence" and a New Ethics of Creativity: Moscow hosted the Panel Session of the III Congress of the World Organization of Writers

On September 18, 2026, the World Trade Center hosted the panel session "New Ethics of Creativity: How to Preserve Freedom, Responsibility, and the Capacity for Creating the New in Art and in the Creative Act Itself" held within the framework of the III Congress of the World Organization of Writers (WOW). The event was held in Moscow in September 2026 as part of the Second World Public Assembly "New World: Values That Unite".

The panel session opened with the anthem "We Are People of One Planet." Opening the meeting, the Chair of the Literary Council of the World Peoples Assembly and President of the World Organization of Writers, Margarita Al, noted that over ten years the idea of uniting writers had grown into a powerful global platform.

- We have gathered here as conscious creators of meaning, guardians of the planet's cultural space. In 2025 we began formulating a new ethics of creativity. And as the first step toward this awareness, we declared 2026–2035 the Decade of the Languages of the Peoples of the World, in order to draw public attention to the languages of indigenous peoples and strengthen their position, – Margarita Al addressed the participants and the online audience.

It is symbolic that WOW proclaimed 2026 the Year of the Russian Language - "the language of world literature and philosophy, open to dialogue." Margarita Al emphasized that the writers' initiative falls on fertile ground at both the state and global levels. She recalled the decrees of Russian President Vladimir Putin: "On Holding the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia in the Russian Federation" of December 25, 2025 and "On Establishing the Day of Languages of the Peoples of the Russian Federation" of November 4, 2025 (first celebrated on 8 September, the birthday of Rasul Gamzatov). The Russian language was called "the connecting thread that forms a single multiethnic state."

At the international level, WOW's initiative logically continues the UN General Assembly resolution on the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032). However, the writers set themselves a more ambitious task.

-  UNESCO warns: every two weeks a language disappears in the world, and by the end of the century half of the 6,500 existing languages may be under threat. Our decade expands the UN's focus from the languages of indigenous peoples to all the languages of the planet, – summarized the President of WOW, announcing the creation at the III Congress of a Commission for Interaction with the UN and UNESCO.

An important part of the meeting was the award ceremony for the honors established by the World Organization of Writers in 2023 for contributions to the development of world literature. Honorary gold medals are awarded to those who, through their talent, build bridges between cultures. Those gathered honored the memory of a great compatriot, the theorist of a new movement in poetry, Konstantin Kedrov, with whom the history of this award began.

The laureates of the WOW-2026 Gold Medal were:

• Wole Soyinka – Nobel Laureate in Literature (Nigeria);

• Timur Zulfikarov – poet (Tajikistan);

• Sao Shui – poet, prose writer, screenwriter (China);

• Vyacheslav Kupriyanov – Russian writer, poet and translator;

• Menbayar Shagdarsuren – writer, translator (Mongolia);

• Olga Medvedko – President of the Nikolay Gumilyov Foundation, cultural scholar, journalist, writer;

• Hanan Awad – poetess, writer, literary critic (Palestine);

• Vadim Terekhin – General Coordinator of the BRICS Writers Association;

• Tamara Potyomkina – Chair of the Literary Commission of the Society for Cooperation and Friendship with Nepal.

The award ceremony grew into a lively dialogue of cultures. The laureates shared their thoughts on the fate of literature. Sao Shui, author of the epic "Eurasia," thanked translators, thanks to whom "the literary Tower of Babel is becoming a reality." He spoke of his youthful dream of traveling on horseback from Beijing to Moscow through India and Persia, and also of the research of geneticist Spencer Wells, who in his book "The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey" proves the common origin of humanity.

- All modern people descend from common ancestors who lived one hundred thousand years ago. We came out of Africa, spread across the plains of Mesopotamia, and yet we remain one species. We do not need Western centralism or Eastern centralism; we need human centralism, a multitude of coexisting centers, a fusion of East! – exclaimed the poet.

Tamara Potyomkina presented a collection of contemporary women's poetry from Russia and Nepal, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the countries, and made a bold proposal – to declare 2028 the Year of Nepal, so that Nepalese prose and poetry become known to the whole world.

Vadim Terekhin called on writers of all countries to unite, "to take all the best from our cultures and graft it onto local soil." Olga Medvedko noted that she stands at the origins of WOW together with Margarita Al and gratefully called the organization's president "a tireless knight of culture."

There was also warm humor: Vyacheslav Kupriyanov apologized for being late to the stage.

– I wanted to order myself a tuxedo, but I didn't have time, so I had to come in a denim jacket. However, I am here! – explained the poet.

For his part, Sao Shui, on behalf of the Great Poetic Movement of China, awarded medals to:

Margarita Al – for her contribution to the development of poetry throughout the world;

Eldar Akhadov – for his contribution to poetry, his translation work, and for the work of the "Silk Road" publishing house.

The culmination of the session was a unique event that united the Year of the Russian Language and the art project "Angels of the World." In 2024, WOW established the World Records Book with a humanistic orientation, and now the writers decided to make a "message into space." Artists painted 366 angels, and writers added poems to each painting - from works of the classics (Pushkin, Yesenin, Gumilyov, and others) to contemporary authors.

- We have created a prayer in colors. With the help of the word and our good thoughts, through a connection with the higher, we tried to help the world heal, – said the head of the "Angels of Peace" project, Natalya Itsenko.

At the end of the session, a "Minute of Non-Silence" was announced: participants and guests of the congress decided to fill time and space with sound. For exactly 60 seconds, everyone in the hall simultaneously read poems dedicated to peace and the image of an angel.

- It sounded like a symphony – after all, poetry is music itself. The lines merged with cosmic vibrations and flew off to distant galaxies, – shared his impressions People's Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan Eduard Treskin.

As a result, a world record was officially set: 366 poems in the Russian language, read simultaneously within 60 seconds.

The panel session was also attended by Ashraf Dali – poet, writer, editor-in-chief of the literary series "The Silk Road," and President of the Association of Journalists of Asia.

The III Congress of the World Organization of Writers once again proved: as long as the word resounds, as long as literature remains the living voice of peoples, humanity is capable of preserving mutual understanding, trust, and the capacity for creating the new.

Additional information – on the official website of the World Peoples Assembly and at media@world-assembly.org.