Principle-less Readings. Pancakes are tearing!

In the 6th collection, prepared by the imprint «Astrelin-SPb» and the literary-theatrical project «Principle-less Readings», the best short stories that made it to the finals of the competition for the Short New Prose Festival in 2025 are traditionally included:

— stories that were read on stage by popular actors and readers who won a special competition of the «Principle-less Readings» project;

— stories by permanent residents of the festival: Alexander Bessonov, Alexander Malenkov, and Alexander Tsypkin;

— stories marked by the editorial board. 

«This year, over two thousand applications were submitted to the festival, both from authors who have already made a name for themselves and from those who wrote a literary text for the first time. In most cases, these are bright, warm stories about love, friendship, relationships with children or parents. Several poignant stories about old age — even though they are about the inevitable, still written with hope and kindness between the lines.

It is pleasing that there are many funny stories, truly funny stories, that make one laugh out loud. And finally, the most valuable thing — what a beautiful language our authors have: rich, inventive, bright, and very familiar — in other words, sunny, just like the entire collection we named after the symbol of the sun. I am sure many will read these stories aloud to their friends». Alexander Tsypkin, founder of the Short New Prose Festival «Principle-less Readings»