“KRAPIVA” (NETTLE) JOURNAL: AN INDEPENDENT CREATIVE COMMUNITY OF NOVICE AUTHORS

Abstract

The characteristic of the children’s literary and journalistic periodical “Krapiva” (Nettle) is offered. The journal has been published in Yekaterinburg since 2017 at the Sverdlovsk Regional Library for Children and Youth named after Vladislav P. Krapivin, curated by the young playwright Anna Baturina. The periodicity of issues is once a year; to date, six issues of the journal have been published. The editorial board consists of children, they also select texts for publication, prepare the original layout of the issue and its design (drawings, photographs). An analysis of editorial statements in the journal and interviews with the curator allow us to conclude that the publication is unique: the authors are absolutely free in their work; the tactic and position of the curators are extremely democratic. From the very beginning, “Krapiva” (Nettle) declared itself not only as a journal, but, above all, as a platform for weekly communication, discussion of the problems that concern today’s teenagers. At community meetings, new works of participants are discussed, meetings with writers are held, questions of the theory and poetics of literature are studied. The choice of the name (apart from the reference to Krapivin, whose name the library bears) is motivated by the desire of aspiring authors to share traumatic experiences like stinging nettles. The epigraph to the magazine is the words of one of the participants: “Nettle is the pain of childhood”. The article characterizes the headings of the journal, identifies the dominant themes, and makes observations on the genre composition of the published works.

Keywords: children’s literary creativity, children’s library, children’s journal, development of children’s creative abilities