The article considers the significance of the figure of P. P. Bazhov as the editor of the almanac "The Ural Contemporary" in the last years of the author's life. The long-term work of the famous writer in the almanac remains practically unexplored. To recreate an accurate historical picture, studies of archival documents, as well as published memoirs of Bazhov's contemporaries, were conducted. In particular, the article analyzes Bazhov's statement at the meeting of the Sverdlovsk branch of the Union of Soviet Writers of December 20, 1949, in which the author refuses both the post of editor of the almanac and the post of managing the writers collective in the Urals. The versatile activity of P. P. Bazhov is studied, which made it difficult for him to devote a large amount of time to organizing and deputy activities, editorial work in the almanac and publishing house, and, most importantly, the actual literary work. On the basis of critical articles and minutes of party meetings, the characteristic shortcomings of the almanac are highlighted, which forced Bazhov to find the cause of the dissatisfaction of publishers and writers in his own shortcomings. It turns out that Bazhov, as an editor, tried to correct the situation by promoting the ideas of changes in organizational work, offering to reform the almanac into a magazine, to revise the structure of the publication, to create thematic issues. In each issue of the almanac, he published his own texts to achieve the desired volume of publication, the formation of the literature of the Urals. Based on the study of the documents, it is shown that the self-critical statement of the writer at the meeting, on the one hand, was justified by the heavy load of the author, the state of his health, and on the other - the desire to give way to young staff. It is concluded that the reluctance of the party leadership to release Bazhov from high positions was determined by the "shortage" of writers suitable for the position of editor and chairman of the Sverdlovsk branch of the Union of Soviet Writers, as well as the desire to preserve an authoritative author as the face of the city's writers organization and its printing body.