8th Tbilisi International Festival of Literature Program
*Event location: Writers' House of Georgia - Ivane Machabeli street #13, Tbilisi, Georgia.
June 3, Saturday
15:00-15:30 – Opening ceremony
15:30-16:45 – "Rare, Minor, and Endangered Languages: Heritage to Protect"
There are more than 7000 languages in the world. Some researchers believe that half of the existing languages will no longer exist by the end of the XXI century. It is also known that the life of a language depends on social, political, and economic factors, which means that a language is not an independent entity but a social phenomenon living in the minds and voices of its speakers and therefore its disappearance or survival depends on the group of native speakers. What is the role of literature in this process?
Bob Holman (USA), Inga Gaile (Latvia), and Simon Ó Faoláin (Ireland) talk about the destiny of minor languages. Moderated by Paata Shamugia
Language: English/Georgian
17:00-17:45 – Jacek Dehnel (Poland) in conversation with Magda Nowakowska. Presentation of the Georgian translation of the novel Lala (Intelekti Publishing, translated by Miranda Gurgenidze)
Language: English/Georgian
18:00-19:15 – "Time in Storytelling. Stories from the Past and Stories about the Future”
Imagined and science-fictional futures VS retrospective narrative: how do they differ? Historical texts on the one hand and those which use fiction to imagine the future: Why do they matter? Does time define the genre?
Grace Henes (USA), Daniel Wisser (Austria), and Niall Griffiths (United Kingdom) talk about time in literature. Moderated by Keti Chartolani.
Language: English/Georgian
19:30-20:30 – Pauline Picot (France) in conversation with Nuka Gambashidze. Poetry reading (Georgian translations by Boris Chabradze)
Language: English/Georgian/French
21:00 – Live Literature and Music. Public reading involving festival participants.
June 4, Sunday
15:00-16:15 – "The Text and the Identity"
The identity and self-reflection of a writer may play an important role in fiction. Writing is often a way of expressing the storyteller’s identity, or on the contrary, departing from it to talk about something different. Often the author's experience and perspective are absent. Do authors’ linguistic, national, gender, religious, or another type of identity affect their fictional works? May it encourage readers in constructing identities?
Nana Abuladze (Georgia), Pauline Picot (France), and Carmien Michels (Belgium) talk about identity in fiction. Moderated by Nuka Gambashidze
Language: English/Georgian
16:30-17:45 – "Story and Narration. How does Multimedia affect Literature?"
Throughout the centuries, oral tradition transformed into written, staged, screen-played stories. In present times, stories get spread through TV, streaming platforms, and video games along with traditional, printed, or digital, forms. Will literature, as we perceived it for centuries, survive?
Iva Pezuashvili (Georgia), Jan Baeke (Netherlands), and Neva Lukić (Croatia) talk about the new forms of storytelling and the future of literature in the digital age. Moderated by Khatuna Tskhadadze
Language: English/Georgian
18:00-18:45 – Inga Gaile (Latvia) in conversation with Shota Iatashvili. Poetry reading (Georgian translations by Nino Iakobidze)
Language: English/Georgian/Latvian
19:00 -20:00 – Rati Amaglobeli (Georgia) and Jan Baeke (Netherlands), in conversation with Natasha Lomouri. Poetry reading (Georgian translation by Dato Gholijashvili and Shota Iatashvili)
Language: English/Georgian/Dutch
20:00-21:00 – Bob Holman (USA) in conversation with Paata Shamugia. Poetry reading (Georgian translations by Paata Shamugia)
Language: English/Georgian
21:30-22:30 – In Memoriam: Davit Tserediani
June 5, Monday
18:30-19:15 – Dimitris Tsekouras (Greece) in conversation with Anina Gogokhia. Presentation of the Georgian translation of the novel The Door (Intelekti publishing, translated by Anina Gogokhia)
Language: Greek/Georgian
19:30-20:15 - Neva Lukić (Croatia) in conversation with the translator Davit Chikhladze. Poetry Reading.
Language: English/Georgian/Croatian
20:30-21:15 – Karen Antashyan (Armenia) in conversation with Paata Shamugia. Poetry Reading (Georgian translations by Asia Darbinian and Diana Anphimiadi)
Language: English/Georgian
21:30-22:30 – Iya Kiva (Ukraine) in conversation with Shota Iatashvili. Poetry reading (Georgian translations by Raul Chilachava)
Language: Ukrainian/Georgian
June 6, Tuesday
18:30-19:15 – Salim Babullaoghly (Azerbaijan) in conversation with Oktai Kazumov. Poetry reading.
Language: Azerbaijani/Georgian
19:30-20:30 – Niall Griffiths (United Kingdom) and Archil Kikodze (Georgia), in conversation with Nuka Gambashidze. Discussion on novels Stump by Niall Griffiths (Publishing House Saga, Georgian translation by Nodar Manchkashvili) and Lizard on the Gravestone by Archil Kikodze (Sulakauri Publishing)
Language: English/Georgian
20:45-21:45 – Versopolis Poets: Dato Barbakadze (Georgia) and Simon Ó Faoláin (Ireland) in conversation with Irakli Kolbaia. Poetry reading (Georgian translations by Ana Kopaliani)
Language: English/Georgian
22:30 – Bob Holman (USA) at Writers' Bar H2SO4 (Leo Chiachelli St. 28). Poet-bartender, poetry reading and live music.
June 7, Wednesday
18:30-19:15 – Kei Okamoto (Japan) in conversation with Yasuhiro Kojima. Poetry reading (Georgian translations by Tatia Memarnishvili)
Language: Japanese/Georgian
19:30-20:30 – Daniel Wisser (Austria) in conversation with Mzia Galdavadze. Presentation of the Georgian translation of the novel Queen of the Mountains (Intelekti Publishing, translated by Mzia Galdavadze).
Language: German/Georgian
21:00-22:00 – Versopolis Poets: Eka Kevanishvili (Georgia) and Carmien Michels (Belgium) in conversation with Nuka Gambashidze. Poetry reading (Georgian translations by Dato Gholijashvili and Shota Iatashvili)
Language: English/Georgian/Dutch