World Public Assembly to Host Second WOW Congress: Writers Unite for Global Dialogue
On September 20–21, 2025, the Second Congress of the World Organization of Writers (WOW) will be held at the World Public Assembly (WPA), serving as a global platform for literary cooperation across cultures, languages, and continents.
Following its successful first congress in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2024, WOW is preparing for its second gathering under the inspiring slogan: “We are People of the Same Planet.” The event will unite prominent literary figures from across the globe to participate in seven parallel round tables, each exploring key aspects of global literary culture.
The round tables will cover:
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The role of writers’ communities in shaping the cultural and humanistic agenda.
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The art of translation as a practice of preserving and spreading meanings.
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Media platforms and their role in promoting literature.
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Education and universities, with literature as a vector of human development.
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Young writers, focusing on supporting the next generation of authors as an investment in the future.
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Book fairs, festivals, and publishing houses as spaces of literary interaction.
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Drama and cinematography as creative extensions of literary culture.
According to Margarita Al, President of the WOW World Organization of Writers, each round table will serve as a growth point where literature becomes a form of responsibility to the world:
“This is our strategic format, our little literary Babylon. We are simultaneously organizing seven round tables, seven topics, seven areas that do not compete, but overlap, each with a moderator and a strong speaker group. In the first part, participants discuss topics in a professional circle. In the second part, each group delegates a representative who presents the results and answers questions. This creates a lively, horizontal dialogue and allows you to make practical decisions. This is not a ‘sit down – break-up’ format. This is ‘met and started the movement.’ Dialogue as a form of thinking.”
Writers from Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Gambia, Ghana, Djibouti, Egypt, Zambia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, UAE, Rwanda, Senegal, Somaliland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Montenegro, Ethiopia, and South Africa have already confirmed their participation. In total, writers from more than 100 countries are expected to attend the congress in Moscow.
There is also a possibility that all WOW Award winners will meet for the first time during this gathering. In keeping with tradition, the WOW flag will be ceremoniously handed over: Nigeria, represented by writer Wale Okediran, will pass the baton to Russia, represented by poet and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Alexandra Ochirova. On the final day of the congress, the new WOW Award winners will be announced, along with the host country of the third WOW Congress in 2026.
Margarita Al emphasized the practical outcomes expected from the event:
“We want solutions: new translations, joint projects, and support programs. But the most important thing is to form working initiatives: resolutions, networking programs, plans for publications, festivals, so that each meeting does not end with a discussion, but launches a specific action aimed at strengthening international literary cooperation, so that everyone leaves with the feeling: ‘I am not alone, I am needed, and we have started something real.’”