Georgia as the Guest of Honor at Frankfurt Book Fair
By Mariam Chanishvili
Wednesday, October 17
The Frankfurt Book Fair, which is one of the most important cultural events in the world, focuses on one particular country, as a guest of honor.
This year – Georgia.
The pavilion of Georgia opened at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 10.
The Prime Minister of Georgia, Mamuka Bakhtadze with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini attended and participated in the opening ceremony of the pavilion with other guests.
Bakhtadze talked about the importance of being the Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair for Georgia, and an opportunity to show the rest of the world the country’s unique alphabet.
In the framework of the Frankfurt International Book Fair Guest of Honor program, with the initiative of The Government of Georgia and The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia, Georgian National Museum displays three exhibitions and educational programs in the fall of 2018.
The exhibitions presented in different museums of Frankfurt aims to represent the history of human evolution from the prehistoric epoch to the ancient period on the territory of Georgia and the Caucasus.
Georgian music was presented at Frankfurt Book Fair, with the support of Georgian Folklore State Center, together with Tbilisi State Conservatoire and fund “Georgian Chant”.
More than the 70 Georgian authors arrived to Frankfurt to talk about their books personally.
The book reading sessions and discussions also took place within the frames of the event. Reading session of “Journey to Karabakh” by Aka Morchiladze took place on October 15 at Bookshop Bottger in Bonn, Germany.
Aka Morchiladze's first and best-known novel has been a best-seller ever since it first appeared. This is an indication of the narrative’s continuing relevance, especially in its treatment of the emotional condition of an entire generation and the absurdity of the conflicts in the Caucasus. A book is about the tricky business of finding and defining liberty. The novel, which resembles a road movie, was made into a film in 2004.
Georgia’s leading literary contest Saba award ceremony took place in Frankfurt, in the Kaisersaal, the historic hall of the Frankfurt City Hall. The winners were announced on October 12.
Lasha Bughadze received the prize for the Novel of the Year for his work - "Small Country" (Bakur Sulakauri Publishing House), while Levan Muskhelishvili’s "Short Stories" (Cezanne) was awarded the prize of Prose Collection of the Year.
The winners were awarded monetary prizes from TBC Bank in addition to special prizes.
Lasha Bugadze delivered a speech and expressed his gratitude for the prize. He also talked about Georgian writers’ role, the case of Zviad Ratiani, literature and Russian Occupation.
“Regardless of anything, Georgian writer will always say his word and defend the truth. Politicians come and go, the words will remain,” he said.
The Frankfurter Buchmesse is the world's largest trade fair for books, based both on the number of publishing companies represented, and the number of visitors. It is considered to be the most significant book fair in the world for international deals and trading.
