The festival program, dedicated to the anniversary of the birth of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, will include an "Evening of Pushkin" on June 6 in Covent Garden, with English translations of the Russian poet's verse displayed on a screen.

Day two will see the 6th International Russian poetry tournament and the 2nd International Russian short stor

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y tournament. A total of 28 finalists from 14 countries will compete for the titles "King/Queen of Prose" and "King/Queen of Poets," who will receive bronze statues of Pushkin and a cash prize.

An English translation of the prose and poetry written by the finalists will be published by the start of the festival.

The official opening of the festival will show a presentation of the new project - "Pushkin in Britain, Shakespeare in Moscow: two alleys of Great Poets," an international roundtable "Pushkin & Great Britain," an exhibition "Pushkin and Western Europe" from the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, and film-lecture "Kapitanskaya Dochka" ("Captain's Daughter") based on Pushkin's script.

The festival organizers will hold poetry impromptu & parody competitions during a cruise along the River Thames.

The festival program, covered by media sponsor RIA Novosti, is available at www.pushkininbritain.com.

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti)