As part of the 2nd World Congress of Writers – “We Are People of the Same Planet”, taking place on September 20–21, 2025, the second day will feature eight round tables bringing together writers, translators, academics, and publishers from around the world to discuss the pressing issues of literature, culture, and humanism.
The sessions will address key themes such as: the role of writers’ unions in shaping a new humanism, translation as a bridge between cultures, media and literary journals as guides to meaning, and education and universities as spaces for human development. Special focus will also be given to young writers and their future vision, to book fairs, festivals, and publishing houses as arenas of cultural interaction, and to drama and cinema as powerful channels for humanist storytelling.
The Congress aims to produce the WOW Memorandum—a document of shared values, commitments, and objectives—alongside an annual action plan of international events, competitions, translation programs, and literary residencies. It will also establish a global network of partnerships and specialized councils for ethics, translation, youth, and cinema.
World Congress of Writers – September 21, 2025
Eight Roundtables: Issues, Tasks, and Goals
🔹 Roundtable 1 (1A & 1B)
Theme: Writers’ Unions: From Solidarity to a New Humanistic Design.
Format: One moderator, 10–15 speakers (3 minutes each = 40 minutes), discussion (40 minutes), then summary and selection of one speaker (10 minutes) for the following session.
Discussion Topics:
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WOW as an international platform for union interaction
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Integrating writers through joint publications, competitions, and residencies
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Supporting young writers and PAWA’s experience
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Agreements as tools for integration
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New ethics of creativity
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Transmission of values and its mechanisms
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Principles of “writers’ diplomacy”
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Writers’ unions in the era of digital fragmentation
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Institutional representation vs. a living literary environment
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Joint projects: grants, festivals, alliances
Tasks: Coordinate forms of cooperation, draft principles of “writers’ diplomacy,” and approve an annual plan of international events.
Outcomes: Establishment of an international platform for unions’ interaction.
🔹 Roundtable 2
Theme: The Art of Translation: The Word as a Meeting Point of Cultures.
Format: One moderator, 10–15 speakers, discussion, and summary as above.
Discussion Topics:
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What is lost and gained in translation?
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Cultural and ethical dimensions
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The translator as a partner in creativity
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National schools of translation
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Machine translation vs. the living word
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Responsibility for semantic quality
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Translation support programs
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Translation as a tool of “literary diplomacy”
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Dialogue between cultures through translation
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Unified network of WOW translators
Tasks: Approve support programs for mutual translation projects.
Outcomes: Creation of a WOW Translators’ Council and launch of a program to support translations of members’ works.
🔹 Roundtable 3
Theme: Media and Literary Magazines: From Imitating Information to Guiding Meaning.
Discussion Topics: Media as ally of writers, restoring trust in the printed word, model of the humanist magazine, revival of literary criticism, the role of digital magazines and blogs, international media cooperation, experiences of leading global journals, WOW’s publishing platform, ethics of literary reporting, interaction with new media.
Tasks: Revive literary criticism as an institution and establish an international association of publications.
Outcomes: WOW International Magazines Network and a review site for humanist literature.
🔹 Roundtable 4
Theme: Education and Universities: Literature as a Path of Human Development.
Discussion Topics: Literature and the humanization of education, books and personality building, moral education for the future, the university as a center of cultural dialogue, integrating WOW texts into curricula, literary workshops in schools and universities, teachers as cultural mediators, digital formats for teaching literature, role of young researchers, international academic cooperation.
Tasks: Strengthen ties with the academic community.
🔹 Roundtable 5
Theme: Young Writers: Tomorrow’s Literature as a Collective Project.
Discussion Topics: New voices between freedom and responsibility, avoiding marginalization of talent, platforms for first appearances, mentoring and guidance, support programs, youth residencies and exchanges, literature’s relationship with the digital generation, global trends in new literature, WOW as a platform for literary emergence, the ethical responsibility of the new generation.
Tasks: Launch mentoring programs and integrate youth into WOW projects.
Outcomes: A Global Council of Young Writers and a platform for first digital publications.
🔹 Roundtable 6
Theme: Book Fairs, Festivals, Publishing Houses: Culture as a Space for Interaction.
Discussion Topics: Reviving the book as an event, publishers as curators of the humanist agenda, ethics of literary festivals, new formats for international book fairs, reader engagement in the 21st century, festival alliances, WOW publications promotion program, festivals as arenas for cultural dialogue, digital book presentations, a map of literary events.
Tasks: Establish a WOW Book Festivals Alliance, expand the publishers’ network, launch the book series We Are Humans of One Planet, and initiate an annual literary festival on UNESCO’s World Poetry Day.
Outcomes: Promotion of WOW books at fairs and a global map of literary events.
🔹 Roundtable 7
Theme: Drama and Cinema: The Humanistic Direction of the World Screen.
Discussion Topics: Selection of texts for film production, mechanisms of project pitching, production file from text to screen, partnerships with studios and platforms, financing film projects, festival strategies, the humanist message as a competitive advantage, roadmap for a WOW Film Festival.
Outcomes: A plan for a global film festival under the slogan We Are Humans of One Planet, and the formation of a pool of texts for production and competition.
