Translator Khatuna Tskhadadze awarded Order of the Star of Italy for literary work
Khatuna Tskhadadze at the 2017 Saba Literary Awards, where she received the Translation of the Year Award for 'Foucault's Pendulum' by Umberto Eco. Screenshot from Georgian Public Broadcaster video.
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Georgian translator Khatuna Tskhadadze has been distinguished with the Order of the Star of Italy, a state prize of the Republic, for her work in making Italian authors available to readers in her country.
The award that recognises promotion of Italian culture abroad was bestowed on the translator and university professor in recognition of over two decades of work on major novels, miniatures and stories by authors including Umberto Eco, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Gianni Rodari.
Tskhadadze was nominated for the prize last year by the Embassy of Italy in Georgia, without the knowledge of the translator herself. She told on.ge news website she was "completely surprised and very happy" to receive "the top order for people whose work with the Italian language and literature is not only their profession but their life".
The prize-winning translation work of the literature professional has produced Georgian editions of works including Foucault's Pendulum by Eco, The Street Kids by Pasolini and miniatures by Tonino Guerra.
Her translations have received critical acclaim on Georgia's literary scene, with two Saba Literary Awards for Translation of the Year for Foucault's Pendulum and The Prague Cemetery by Eco, in addition to Gala Literary Prize for her translation of the Italian writer's The Name of the Rose.
Her work on Eco has also been praised by poet Giorgi Lobzhanidze, who said it was "impossible not to be delighted with this great writer, as discovered and presented in congenial translations of Khatuna Tskhadadze."
In the recent years the Order of the Star of Italy has been awarded to poet David Magradze and opera singer Nino Surguladze.
Famous Georgian opera singer Nino Surguladze has been awarded Italy's top national prize for developing relations between countries and nations.
Popular Georgian poet David Magradze has become a recipient of Italy's major national prize after being bestowed the Order of the Star of Italy by President Sergio Mattarella this week.
Georgian poet Giorgi Lobzhanidze and translator Nunu Geladze will be under the spotlight of the Xenia Book Fair in Reggio Calabria, a coastal city in southern Italy, where audience will be introduced to their work this week.
Georgian poet Giorgi Lobzhanidze is among nominees for this year's Il Tiburtino International Literary Prize for Unpublished Poetry in Italy, hosted by the Aletti Editore literary community and marking its fourth edition later this month.
Georgia's acclaimed translator and poet David Tserediani has been posthumously awarded the Vazha-Pshavela State Prize, with his family accepting the honour from President Salome Zurabishvili on Tuesday.
Georgian translator Lali Unapkoshvili, distinguished with the Litera Award for Translation last year, has now been honoured for her work in bringing French literature to readers in her country with France's state Order of Academic Palms.
Poet Giorgi Lobzhanidze was declared winner at the Nazra annual poetry competition in Qatar last week, with his poem Garden in the Desert earning the award and an invitation for its author to the International Poetry Day in Qatar next spring.