Vera Bogdanova, director of the great writer's estate museum in Staraya Russa, told RIA Novosti that the readings have brought together more than 70 scholars researching Dostoyevsky's works and life from Russia, Belarus, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, the USA and Ukraine.
The event will also be attended by directors of Dostoyevsky museums in CIS countries and other regions of Russia, including from the village of Darovoye (Moscow Region) where a new Dostoyevsky museum is currently being set up in the former estate of the author's father, Mikhail Dostoyevsky.
Among the forum's guests are Fyodor Dostoyevsky's descendants - his great-grandson Dmitry Dostoyevsky, great-great-grandson Alexei and great-great-granddaughters Anna and Vera, Ms Bogdanova said.
According to her, the author's grandson is going to make public new documents, recently declassified by the Federal Security Service, regarding the fate of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's relatives repressed in the 1930s.
Among other things, Dmitry Dostoyevsky is going to unveil details pertaining to the arrest of the great writer's grandson Andrei Dostoyevsky in 1934 and his nephew Andrei Dostoyevsky in 1931.
The first public release of authentic evidence regarding the fate of the great author's repressed relatives is going to be a true sensation, the museum director stressed.
Participants in the readings are going to take part in the public debate "Church and Culture in Contemporary Society" which is expected to become one of the event's major highlights. The debate is to take place on the premises of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's former house, the walls of which, the museum's staff say, "simply do not tolerate lies".
According to Bogdanova, the speakers include not only renowned scholars but also a few Novgorod high school students, authors of literary studies that won top awards at the 6th junior Dostoyevsky readings "Dostoyevsky's Works Through the Eyes of Contemporary Readers".
Vera Bogdanova said that the international Dostoyevsky readings in Staraya Russa are held on the dates marking the writer's first visit to this town on May 18, 1872.
The event's program also features an exhibition entitled "Dostoyevsky's Europe". It presents paintings by St. Petersburg's artist Genrikh Kellikh, a great admirer of the famous Russian author's talent. His paintings display houses that hosted Dostoyevsky in various parts of Europe.
In addition, the event's program includes exposition of Dostoyevsky's works published in different European languages as well as postcards dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The organizers have also planned excursions to the places described in the novel "The Brothers Karamazov".
The readings close on May 25.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky's estate museum was opened in 1904 at the initiative of Anna, the great writer's wife. Dostoyevsky (1821 - 1881) lived in Staraya Russa with his family in 1872-1875 and 1880.
It was here that he wrote his novel "The Adolescent" and a good portion of "The Brothers Karamazov". In 1918 the estate museum gave way to a local history museum organized on its premises. The writer's study, however, was preserved intact. The literary exposition opened in 1969. The memorial exposition (170 sq. m.) in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's house was set up in 1981. The latter was later transformed into a memorial complex to mark the great author's 160th anniversary. In addition to the writer's house, the complex included the estate grounds and a few streets in Staraya Russa associated with Dostoyevsky's life in the town. The international readings `Dostoyevsky and Contemporaneity` have been taking place at the estate museum since 1981.
