Reading in Belarus

So for this sixth week of my project, we've added 1,555 kilometers to last weeks total of 11,848 bringing the total to 13,403 and my location is the country of Belarus.

I'm not near any cities or towns at the moment, as my location is 53 N 27 E, so I'll tell you a little bit about the literature of the country I'm visiting:

Belarusian literature began with 11th- to 13th century religious writing; the 12th century poetry of Cyril of Turaw is representative. By the 16th century, Polotsk resident Francysk Skaryna translated the Bible into Belarusian. It was published in Prague and Vilnius between 1517 and 1525, making it the first book printed in Belarus or anywhere in Eastern Europe.

After Belarus was incorporated into the Soviet Union, the Soviet government took control of the Republic's cultural affairs. The free development of literature occurred only in Polish-held territory until Soviet occupation in 1939. Several poets and authors went into exile after the Nazi occupation of Belarus, not to return until the 1960s. The last major revival of Belarusian literature occurred in the 1960s with novels published by Vasil Bykaŭ and Uładzimir Karatkievič.

It's sad to learn that even though they started writing and reading here a thousand years ago, it wasn't until forty-nine years ago that they were able to read like we read in Shellbrook. We're very lucky to had the freedom to read what we want to. So give thanks and sign out those books!