Penza, 28 May 2011. PenzaNews. The writer, the journalist, the poet, the film critic, the script writer, the finalist of the awards "The Big Book" and "The National Bestseller" Dmitry Bykov visited Penza on Friday, on May, 27. During the day he had a meeting with the Minister of Cultural Affairs of the region Marina Bojtsova and the Director of the House Museum of V.E. Mejerhold Natalia Kugel. Besides he answered the questions of the readers in one of the city bookshops.

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The Chairman of regional branch of the Union of Journalists of Russia Pavel Pohorenkov said: "After the two-hour meeting Dmitry Bykov suggested Natalia Kugel to write a book about Vsevolod Mejerhold which could be published in series "Life of the remarkable people". This work is planned to be finished within two years".

The meeting with Dmitry Bykov in the Penza Regional Philharmonic Hall was divided into three parts: formal, informal and the answers to the questions. In the first part, he read a number of poems on different topics, remembered the events of the recent years which have had the reflection in "Letters of Happiness" printed in "Ogoniok", — such as the meeting with Vladimir Putin and the well-known artist Ilya Glazunov, the Tatyana Lioznova's colour version of the picture "Seventeen instants of spring", the protection of Khimki wood and the Prime Minister's trip in the yellow Lada-Kalina.

After that Dmitry Bykov presented his new project "A poet and a citizen", which was cause by the three events.

The writer said: "Firstly, it was the declaring of Dmitry Medvedev during the press conference in Skolkovo that the jail of the ex-head of "YUKOS" Michael Khodorkovsky wouldn’t do any harm to the society. Secondly, it was the shortened term for one year for Khodorkovsky and Lebedev by the Moscow City Court, and thirdly — the human rights organization "Amnesty International" recognized them as the prisoners of conscience".

Answering the audience’s question what would become the first decree of Dmitry Bykov as a president, he said: "The Resignation Petition".

The writer also told that on the way to Penza he has written a new story, but he hadn't found an effective ending for it, and hoped to think it over on the way back.

Dmitry Bykov shared his plans with the Penza audience about creating of a new scientific magazine "The Soviet Union", the editor-in-chief of which would be Denis Dragunsky. Julia Latynina and Andrey Kolesnikov were invited as the editorial staff.

In reply to the question "How will the existing government be changed?" the writer noticed that this question worried him greatly, because he had some scenarios of its change, but none of them was perfect.

Dmitry Bykov said: "It's clear what is the result of Perestroika, the revolution from below isn't good as well, and external capture isn't pleasant at all. The most probable scenario reminds me now the times of 1850-s. There will be external, small, but very shameful war like The Crimean one, the legitimate change of the power with a liberal wing, the period of reforms, the thaw period, the new blossoming of arts, "War and Peace", "Fathers and Children", "Crime and Punishment", a small strip of terror, stagnation and revolution. So I see the maintenance of the next 40 years. I hope that I will have time to read "War and Peace."

At the end of the meeting the writer read a fragment from the story "Bear" which was going to be staged.

Dmitry Bykov was born in Moscow in 1967. Since 1985 he worked in the newspaper "Sobesednik". He was a teacher of the Russian and Russian literature at school. He was a member of the Union of writers of the USSR since 1991. He is the author of publicistic, polemic articles and the articles concerning theory and history of literature which were published in a great number of magazines and newspapers, such as "Ogoniok", "Stolitsa", "Novaya Gazeta", "Trud", "Profil" and "Russian Life".

He is the winner of several literary awards. In 2003-2006 he conducted the master class "Journalistic skill" at the Institute of journalism and literary creativity.

He was awarded by the "The Golden Pen of Russia – 2010" by the Union of Journalists of Russia.

He is the author of the project "Poet and Citizen" which was broadcasted on the TV channel "Dozhd" and was printed in the magazine "Kommersant-Vlast". Since April, 2011 the right of broadcasting belongs to the radio station "Echo of Moscow".