Vadim Terëhin Receives the Golden Plaque of the “Orpheus on the Danube 2026” Festival

Russian poet Vadim Terëhin was among the participants of the 15th International Poetry Meetings “Orpheus on the Danube 2026”, held in Kostolac, Serbia, where he was presented with the festival’s Golden Plaque.

The award was given to Terëhin in recognition of his poetic work and his contribution to the beauty and enduring power of the written word. The Golden Plaque was presented on 22 August 2026 as part of a programme that brought together poets and literature enthusiasts in a setting deeply connected with the Danube, history, and the cultural heritage of the region.

A particularly memorable part of his visit to Serbia was a poetry reading in Viminacium, the ancient Roman city and military camp located near present-day Kostolac. The encounter between contemporary poetry and the remains of an ancient civilisation gave the event a special symbolic dimension, connecting past and present through the universal language of art.

During the festival, organiser Slavica Pejović presented Vadim Terëhin with an icon of the Kaluga Mother of God, distinctive for depicting the Mother of God holding a book in her hands. Within the context of a literary gathering, the gift carried particularly meaningful symbolism, bringing together spirituality, knowledge, and the written word.

About Vadim Terëhin

Vadim Fyodorovich Terëhin, born on 27 January 1963, is a Russian poet and cultural figure. He graduated from the Maxim Gorky Literary Institute in Moscow and has been actively involved in literature, culture, and the arts since the early 1990s.

Terëhin is Co-Chairman of the Union of Writers of Russia and Chairman of its Kaluga regional branch. Throughout his career, he has taken part in numerous international literary and cultural projects and has represented Russian literature at poetry festivals and literary events in different parts of the world.

Among the international events in which he has participated are the Struga Poetry Evenings in North Macedonia, as well as literary and cultural gatherings in China, Syria, Vietnam, Colombia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries.

His poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies and has been translated into Italian, Spanish, Macedonian, Arabic, Vietnamese, Chinese, German, English, Turkmen, and other languages. He is the author of several collections of poetry and has received numerous literary honours during his career.

Among his distinctions are the Marina Tsvetaeva Literary Prize, an award of the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation for literature and art, the Golden Knight award for poetry, and the BRICS Order for Contribution to World Literature, awarded in 2024.

And now another international distinction has been added to this list: the Golden Plaque of “Orpheus on the Danube 2026”.

This year’s festival once again demonstrated the ability of poetry to connect different languages, cultures, and traditions, while the Danube — a centuries-old link between peoples and regions — provided a natural setting for such an encounter.