Kazakhstan offers substantial cash prizes for nationwide reading initiative

Over a million Kazakhstanis have registered to participate in the national Reading Nation initiative, launched as part of efforts to implement President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s decree on measures to develop reading culture and foster a reading nation.

Participants can choose from seven competition categories. After registering, they will have six months to read 15 books and advance through several qualifying rounds at the organizational, district, city and regional levels. At the regional stage, participants will compete as teams.

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Culture and Information, Arman Kyrykbayev, highlighted strong interest in the project and stressed that developing a reading culture is a shared responsibility. More than a million registrations in just two weeks demonstrate the initiative’s popularity among the public.

After the regional stage, around 4,000 participants will continue competing for the title of Reader of the Year. The top three finishers will receive cash prizes of 600,000 tenge (around $1,350) for first place, 450,000 tenge (around $1,000) for second place and 300,000 tenge (around $674) for third place.

The next stage will involve writing an essay, presenting the works they have read and appearing before an expert jury. Based on the results, the 10 best readers from each region will advance to the next stage.

The national final will be held in Astana and will bring together 200 participants from all 20 regions of Kazakhstan. They will take part in a test, complete competition tasks and give presentations before the jury. The final will determine Kazakhstan’s 10 best readers, each of whom will receive a top prize of 10 million tenge (around $22,500).