On September 20−21, 2025, the Second Congress of the World Organization of Writers (WOW), a global platform dedicated to the development of literary cooperation between cultures, languages and continents, will take place the World Public Assembly (WPA).
The organization continues to expand its influence and horizons. After the successfully held its first Congress in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2024, WOW prepares for the second one. Under the inspiring slogan “We are People of the Same Planet,” the upcoming Congress will bring together prominent figures of world literature to participate in seven parallel round tables. Each of them will consider the most important aspects of global literary culture.
The first round table will focus on the role of writers’ communities in shaping the cultural and humanistic agenda, while the second will focus on the art of translation as a practice of preserving and spreading meanings. The participants of the third round table will discuss the role of media platforms in promoting literature. The topic of the fourth round table will be education and universities: literature as a vector of human development. The fifth one will bring together young writers and will focus on supporting a new generation of authors as an investment in the future. The sixth platform: book fairs, festivals, publishing houses — literary culture as a space of interaction, and finally, the seventh round table will cover the topic of drama and cinematogrphy.
According to Margarita Al, President of the WOW World Organization of Writers, each area will become a point of growth, where literature is a form of responsibility for the world: “This is our strategic format, our little literary Babylon. We are simultaneously organizing seven round tables, seven topics, seven areas that do not compete, but overlap, each with a moderator and a strong speaker group. In the first part, participants discuss topics in a professional circle. In the second part, each group delegates a representative who presents the results and answers questions. This creates a lively, horizontal dialogue and allows you to make practical decisions. This is not a “sit down — break-up” format. This is “met and started the movement”. Dialogue as a form of thinking.”
Writers from Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Gambia, Ghana, Djibouti, Egypt, Zambia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, UAE, Rwanda, Senegal, Somaliland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Montenegro, Ethiopia, South Africa have already confirmed their participation in the Congress in Moscow. In total, writers from more than 100 countries are expected to participate.
There is a possibility that all the WOW Award winners will meet for the first time at the congress. Traditionally, the WOW flag will be handed over: Nigeria, represented by writer Wale Okediran, passes the baton to Russia, represented by poet, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Alexandra Ochirova. On the last day of the Congress, the names of the next Award winners and the country of the third WOW Congress in 2026 will be announced.
“We want solutions: new translations, joint projects, and support programs. But the most important thing is to form working initiatives: resolutions, networking programs, plans for publications, festivals, so that each meeting does not end with a discussion, but launches a specific action aimed at strengthening international literary cooperation, so that everyone leaves with the feeling: “I am not alone, I am needed, and we have started something real.” – Margarita Al shared her expectations.
