Poet Mariam Tsiklauri, illustrator Giorgi Chachanidze nominated for Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
National Parliamentary Library General Director Giorgi Kekelidze (right) presented Giorgi Chachanidze and Mariam Tsiklauri as Georgian nominees of the Swedish prize. Photo: Giorgi Kekelidze on Facebook.
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Poet and translator Mariam Tsiklauri and illustration artist Giorgi Chachanidze are this year’s Georgian nominees for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, a major prize for children’s literature.
Tsiklauri, an award-winning poet, and Chachanidze, an artist who has featured in solo and group displays, were nominated for the honour during the Tbilisi International Book Fair, which came to a close last week.
The nominations were presented by the National Parliamentary Library General Director Giorgi Kekelidze, in keeping with the institution’ annual selection of national nominees for the Award.
Aimed to highlight the work of the two creatives to an international audience of the ALMA award, the nominations were revealed as annual deadline for the Swedish-based prize’s shortlists came to end last month.
See highlights from the most recent edition of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, won by Belgian author Peter Moeyaert:
Watch the highlights from the award ceremony! The full version of Bart Moeyaert's very appreciated speech is available on our website: https://t.co/IfPkHGFi9v #ALMA19 #bartmoeyaert #literature pic.twitter.com/8hMy51Y4an
— ALMA (@AlmaAward) May 29, 2019
Tsiklauri, a winner of the 2010 Makvala Mrevlishvili Medal and Prize for "contribution to the development of Georgian children's literature", has authored around 30 works and been awarded in national book of the year nominations.
A winner of the Iakob Gogebashvili Prize for Poetry Collection of the Year, she also co-founded the Foundation for the Development of Children's Literature, which was nominated for the ALMA honour in 2011.
Tsiklauri also founded the Georgian Children's Book Day in 2006 and was featured in the 2011 World Poetry Almanac that highlighted 180 poets from 100 countries.
The Tbilisi-born author and translator has also been distinguished with national Saguramo and Gala prizes and has worked in screenwriting.
Chachanidze, a teaching professor at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, has featured in exhibitions of illustration art for children’s books at the Library and other venues.
A teacher of over two decades, he has worked in a multitude of artistic genres and created illustrations for books and magazines, including publications themed on literature. Some of Chachanidze’s work can be viewed on the artist’s page on the Behance platform.
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is promoted as “the World's Largest Children's Literature Award” and selects nominees every spring. The selected shortlist is unveiled at the Frankfurt Book Fair in the fall, with laureates of the prize announced early in the following year before the formal ceremony in May.
Organisers receive nominations for authors, illustrators, “oral storytellers and reading promoters” for their award.
Belgian author Peter Moeyaert won the latest ALMA edition in Stockholm in May.
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.
Emerging young author Beqa Adamashvili has been unveiled among winners of the European Union Prize for Literature, marking Georgia’s first participation in the competition with a win.
The largest literature festival in Nordic countries will feature two Georgian authors as Archil Kikodze and Zurab Karumidze sit down to talk to audiences at the Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer that launches on Tuesday.
Important international guests, Focus Country celebrations of Finland and actors presenting books by foreign writers are only some of the events included in this year’s Tbilisi International Book Fair, launching next week.
Five days of author talks, poetry readings and panel discussions will bring a celebration of all things literature to Georgia’s capital this week, to mark the fifth edition of the Tbilisi International Festival of Literature.
Three Georgian nominees are in contention for the largest international award for children and young adult literature next year, with both individual authors and a book organisation selected for the shortlist of candidates from around the world.
Children's author Irma Malatsidze and the School of Art in the central Georgian village of Nikozi have been selected as the country's nominees for the next edition of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in Stockholm.
Six Georgian nominees have been unveiled for the 2022 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, with authors, illustrators and the Nikozi School of Art in central Georgia selected by organisers of the internationally renowned prize.