Georgian Writers’ House represents for first time at Paris Book Festival

 Georgia: The Ministry of Culture will support the Georgian Writers’ House’s national stand at the 2024 Paris Book Festival, which will be held from April 12 to 14, 2024.

The director of the Writers’ House, Ketevan Dumbadze, Georgian Emergency and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to the Republic of France, Gocha Javakhishvili, and representatives of the literary sphere attended the festival and the opening of the Georgian National Stand at the Grand Palais Éphémère.

The presentation of the Georgian National Stand was held with the event “From Hagiography to Postmodernism.” Guests of the Writers’ House stand had the opportunity to participate in interesting calligraphy activities and learn about Georgian literature. 

Calligrapher Giorgi Sisauri wrote to them the desired words, sayings, phrases, names, and so on in the Georgian alphabet. The event, titled “Sixteen Centuries of Continuous Literary Process,” also took place. It discussed Georgian literature, Georgian-French literary relations, and the union of Georgian and European literature.

Georgian Emergency and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to the Republic of France Gocha Javakhishvili and Doctor of French Philology Professor Bella Khabeishvili, Head of the Faculty of Romantic Philology at Tbilisi State University named after Ivane Javakhashvili, participated in the panel discussion held on the first day of the festival. 

Foreign publishers, literary agents, media representatives, and honorary members of the Georgian community also attended the meeting.

During the festival, a number of activities and business meetings are planned on the Georgian stand – PUBLISHERS MATCHMAKING. Participants of the conference will be the House of Writers of Georgia, Georgian publishers: “Sezan Publishing”, “Medusa”, “Bakmi” and translators – Maia Varsimashvili and Maia Giorkhelidze. 

The Georgian literature catalogue will be discussed at the meeting. Translator Dali Iashvili will present Mikheil Javakhishvili’s story, “Lambalo and Kasha,” and a collection of stories. The book “Sun, Moon, and Bread Field” will be presented on the main stage. It will be presented by author, writer, and filmmaker Temur Babluani and the representative of the National Cinema Center in Europe, Sophia Babluani. 

Along with Georgian publishers, French publishers will be at the Georgian stand: LE CHERCHE MIDI, GINGKO, EDITIONS DES CARNETS DU DESSERT DE LUNE, MEDUZA, and Italian publisher MODERN TIMES, which represent classic and modern Georgian prose and poetry translated into French.

On Georgia’s national stand, there will be a booklet with a synopsis of up to 50 works of Georgian authors and prints from famous works such as “Torture of Shushaniki,” “Vepkhiskhaosani,” and others.

It is worth noting that the Paris Book Fair is one of Europe’s most important cultural events. It is held every spring and attended by 1,200 publishers and 2,000 authors. For the first time this year, Georgia was allowed to participate in festival activities with its own stand.

Participation in the festival with a national stand is very important for Georgia.

Festive activities will help the writers’ house, Georgian writers, or publishers manage literary relations, promote Georgian literature, search for new contacts, and promote translation activities.