Top Georgian writers feature at major Berlin festival

Author and TV presenter Lasha Bugadze will talk about his novel 'Literary Express' at the Berlin festival. Photo from Stadt Land Buch 2016.
Agenda.ge, 08 Nov 2016 - 17:09, Tbilisi,Georgia

Some of the country's most celebrated authors will present their works at a major German literary event, which is this year focusing on Georgian literature and culture.

 

From November 13-21, Germany's capital Berlin will host its annual Stadt Land Buch 2016 literary festival.

Over the nine day event, the Stadt Land Buch 2016 will host about 150 literary and cultural occasions, talks and meetings, and will shine a special light on Georgia as this year's official 'Guest Country of Honour'.

Author Diana Anphimiadi will represent Georgia at the annual German literary festival. Photo from Diana Anphimiadi.

To mark the special status of Georgia, 11 award-winning and upcoming authors from Georgia will present their best works at the annual event.

The group will involve writers and poets Nino Kharatishvili, Lasha Bugadze, Beka Adamashvili, Nana Ekvtimishvili, Lia Sturua, Rati Amaglobeli, Toresa Mossy, Anri Lomia, David Adamashvili, Kote Jandieri and Diana Anphimiadi.

They will feature in five events of Georgian literature throughout the nine-day festival including the opening ceremony.

Germany-based author Nino Kharatishvili will join other Georgian literary artists at this year's Stadt Land Buch. Photo from Danny Merz Mensch/Sollsuchstelle.

On November 13, prose and poetry by Georgian authors will be read and explored by audiences at two occasions in Berlin and at a nearby town called Neuruppin.

Acclaimed works discussed at the two events will include The Pear Field by filmmaker and author Nana Ekvtimishvili which took the Debut of the Year prize at the 2016 Saba Literary Prize in Georgia, and Germany-based novelist Nino Kharatishvili's book The Eighth Life (for Brilka), which the prestigious German magazine Spiegel called "the novel of the year" in 2014.

German organisers of the opening event also said the Stadt Land Buch festival would also feature author and TV presenter Lasha Bugadze's novel Literary Express, and described it as "a splendid satire about a literary company [and] a compelling love story".

Georgian filmmaker and novelist Nana Ekvtimishvili will present her book 'The Pear Field' and feature film 'In Bloom'. Photo from Nana Ekvtimishvili.

Debuting author Beka Adamashvili and poets Lia Sturua and Rati Amaglobeli will be in the spotlight in Berlin, while the attending audience will also be given a taste of prose by Toresa Mossy, Kote Jandieri and Diana Anphimiadi.

Meetings between Georgian authors and visitors will be moderated by leading German critics and journalists including editor and author Tilman Spreckelsen, poet and translator Daniela Seel and film critic and moderator Knut Elstermann.

After the opening day of the festival, the Georgian authors will feature in other festival-related events at five Berlin venues including the German Theatre and Berlin House of Literature.

Their participation in the German festival was made possible thanks to a collaboration between the Georgian National Book Centre, German Association of Publishers and Book Shops and German literary agency Antas Bindermann Listau.