Georgian literature set for first appearance at Guadalajara, Thesalloniki book fairs

Visitors to two international book fairs starting this week in Guadalajara, Mexico and Thessaloniki, Greece will for the first time learn about Georgian literature and authors as part of the events, with a selection of writers and literary project managers travelling set to represent the country.

Celebrated authors of the Georgian scene - Archil Kikodze, Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili and Dato Turashvili - will speak at meetings with readers of the Mexican event between Sunday and December 5, following the opening occasion of the Georgian representation the previous day.

The Saturday event will see Ninia Macharashvili of the project for the status of Tbilisi as the current UNESCO World Book Capital meet Martin Solares, her counterpart for Guadalajara's 2022 position for the honour, and Gerald Leitner, Secretary General of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. The three will talk about the UNESCO designation and its significance for cities.

In the next day's meeting, Kikodze, Kordzaia-Samadashvili and Turashvili - three of the Georgian literary faces regularly introduced to readers and publishers in events across the world - will share their knowledge and thoughts around the contemporary literature from the country.

Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili, recipient of Georgian literary prizes including Saba Literary Award and Iliauni Literary Prize for her work. Photo via literature.iliauni.edu.ge.

The topic of Tbilisi and Guadalajara as UNESCO World Book Capitals will again come up in the other talk hosted on the same day, where Kikodze and Solares will have a discussion, before Turashvili, Macharashvili and Writers' House of Georgia Director Natalia Lomouri host Spanish-language publishers on Monday to introduce the Georgian scene to them, in the closing event of the Georgian programme at the fair.

A Georgian national stand will also host visitors in Guadalajara for the duration of the celebration of literature in the Mexican city - one of the principal international book fairs and the most significant one in the Spanish-speaking world.

Halfway across the world, Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, will have its own programme for introducing prose, poetry and the overall literary scene of Georgia to visitors.

Natalia Lomouri, Director of Writers' House of Georgia, will introduce the country's literary scene to Spanish-language publishers in Guadalajara alongside author Dato Turashvili and Tbilisi UNESCO World Book Capital project representative Ninia Macharashvili. Photo via OK! Magazine Georgia.

The presentations at the Thessaloniki International Book Fair will include the Greek edition of the popular novel Literary Express by author Lasha Bugadze on Friday, marking the launch of events involving Georgian representation at the occasion.

The same day, Maia Danelia of Writers' House of Georgia will host Greek publishers in an introduction of the Georgian literature, while a separate presentation by Tamar Topuridze will review projects featured in Tbilisi's UNESCO World Book Capital project for listeners.

On Saturday, a poetry collection by Paata Shamugia - translated and published in Greek language - will be unveiled in the closing event of the Georgian programme, with the talk moderated by translator Ekaterine Janashia.

Similarly to the Mexican fair, a national stand will host those interested in Georgian culture and literature in Thessaloniki, with the latest editions and translations of the Georgian scene, paired with publications in Hellenistic studies of the Tbilisi State University Institute of Classical Philology, Byzantine and Neo-Greek Research.