Poet Giorgi Lobzhanidze nominated for 'Il Tiburtino' international contest prize

Georgian poet Giorgi Lobzhanidze is among nominees for this year's Il Tiburtino International Literary Prize for Unpublished Poetry in Italy, hosted by the Aletti Editore literary community and marking its fourth edition later this month.

Lobzhanidze's poem That Little Village I Loved was included by juries of the event among finalist submissions of the competition hosted outside Rome. It is run by the community involved in publishing and literary events that marked its 25th anniversary last year.

Finalists of the contest not only get to read their poems at the awards ceremony but will this year also have their work included in a collection involving submissions seeking Il Tiburtino honours.

Poet, publisher and literary critic Giuseppe Aletti (pictured left) leads the Aletti Editore community and the festival. Photo via Aletti Editore on Facebook.

The book is expected to become available to the public later in the year and bear signatures by poets and publishers like Giuseppe Aletti and Hafez Haidar. Aletti, a publisher, poet and literary critic, is founder of the literary magazine Orizzonti and the poetic festival Il Federiciano while Haidar is a poet and a 2017 Nobel Prize nominee.

Poets earning the first three prizes of the contest receive their honours in addition to an opportunity to become part of poetic writing workshops organised by the publishing house.

Beside hosting the festival Aletti Editore also hold events between the main occasions - recently its founder launched a festival of poetry offering its audience a digital connection to poets, authors and artists in the realm of a countrywide lockdown in Italy due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Poet and Nobel Prize nominee Hafez Haidar co-leads the festival jury along with Aletti. Photo via kultur.bz.it.

Poetry by Lobzhanidze, a philologist and Orientalist, has been published in Georgia both as part of poetry publications and as standalone editions. He has also translated poetry from Persian into Georgian. The body of his published poetry includes four collections between 1997-2013, with honours including two Saba Literary Prizes for Translation of the Year in 2008 and 2011.

Last year he was part of Italy's Xenia Book Fair along with Georgian translator Nunu Geladze and has also been featured at the Genoa International Poetry Festival and the Poetry and Europe festival near Perugia.

Lobzhanidze was also among authors and poets selected to represent Georgia's literary and cultural scene during the country's Guest of Honour presentation at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair.