French writer Philippe Besson will open inaugural Tbilisi International Literature Festival
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Georgia’s capital city Tbilisi will host the the first International Literature Festival on May 18.
More than 25 modern writers from all around the globe will visit Tbilisi next week to meet with readers at the Writers House from May 18 to 23.
Visitors of the Literature Festival will have a unique opportunity to meet their favorite writers in person to discuss their latest pieces.
Well-known French writer and the owner of two prestigious literary awards Philippe Besson will present his new book From There,You See the Sea [De là on voit la mer] at the opening day of the festival on May 18.
The book has been translated into Georgian to allow Georgian readers to enjoy the novel in their native language.
On May 19, Besson will meet Georgian students at Tbilisi State University and hold a press conference for media.
Besson is French novelist, playwright and script writer. In 2001 French publishing house Julliard published his most popular novel His Brother, which was later adapted for the cinema screen by Patrice Chéreau.
Besson is the author of the several novels, including In the Absence of Men, Late Autumn, Good Reason for Suicide, The Sea View from There, and The House at the Atlantics. These works gained him the reputation of one of the most important writers in his generation.
In 2014 his first play Tango at the Seashore was staged in Paris.
The French Institute in Georgia and the Agence University of Francophonie (AUF) are supporting Besson’s visit to Georgia.
Mario Vargas Llosa, an internationally recognised Peruvian author, journalist and professor and the winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature, will travel to Georgia later this year to learn about the local culture and arts.
Cities across Georgia are in the midst of celebrating the Month of Francophonie in the country, with students, teachers, readers, cinema fans and culinary enthusiasts flocking to dozens of activities and events marking everything related to French culture.
Award-winning Spanish authors and poets will join their Georgian counterparts in three Tbilisi locations next week to talk all things literature as part of the Spanish and Georgian Literature Week.