S I E S TA Publishing House
Mosquito in the City
Saba Literary Prize, 2011 Size: 115x175 mm Number of pages: 244 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2010 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
Mosquito in the City by Erlom Akhvlediani is a philosophical novel about life. A mosquito is a metaphor of a human being who wound up in an unknown world. The author pictures it as a humanized insect, comparing it with Eros, the god of love. A mosquito bite makes you fall in love, which is an illness. And because Eros is a god, killing it is a heinous crime. On the other hand, death is the only way to be turned into a god, which is why the mosquito, an innocent human, is looking for a person who will end its existence. This novel, written in the minimalist style, is full of paradox and imagination.
Erlom Akhvlediani Born in Tbilisi on November 23, 1933, and died on March 20, 2012. Erlom Akhvlediani graduated from Tbilisi State University in 1957, majoring in history. He took higher education courses in Moscow in 1962-64 which he completed successfully. During 1962-1999 he wrote scenarios for eighteen films and starred in four movies. Erlom Akhvlediani is the author of three novels and numerous short stories. His
works are translated and published in Russian, Armenian, Czech, German, Hungarian and Arabic. Erlom Akhvlediani received the USSR state prize and several literary prizes, the Saba literary prize for the best novel of the year (2011) among them.
The Book of Epistles
Size: 145x200 mm Number of pages: 148 Copyright holder: Givi Alkhazishvili, 2012 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
The Book of Epistles is an extraordinary piece of work by its metaphysical, I would say, transcendental, dimensions. It is obvious that the dedication line has its reason and therefore, it is not a mere coincidence that most of the poems in this book do sound like prayers. Zaza Shatirishvili
Givi Alkhazishvili Born in 1944. Graduated from Tbilisi State University in 1969. From 1960’s his poetry was published in different editions. In 1972 publishing house Merani published first book Poetries. The book Going Out From Horda was awarded Akaki Tsereteli Literary Prize In 1998. For the same book he won the Georgian National Award in 1999. In 2010 Givi Alkhazishvili’s 3 books were published: Future Past (documentary fiction) was
published by Siesta. Intellect, printed 100 poems, Saunje has published the new poetry collection Gazing Inwards which was awarded Saba Literary Prize for the Best Collection of Poems of the Year 2011. His poems are translated into English, Russian, Italian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Estonian and Moldavian languages.
The Circle
Size: 120X170 mm Number of pages: 72 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2009 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
In individual perceptions, poetry has been experienced as the musical element of language, the polymetric rhythm of a self-murderer, a pause, a verb, or "if". Today the circle has closed. It became a circle around which one can walk, go forward or go back. The circle may expand endlessly and become a sphere or on the contrary – it may shrink and consequently, turn into a dot. The type of the metamorphosis depends on a reader’s imagination. So this is a circle, a magic circle composed of the author, the text and the reader. Anyone wishing to enter is welcome. Rati Amaglobeli
Rati Amaglobeli Born in 1977. Georgian poet and translator. He graduated from Tbilisi State University in 2000 majoring in philology. His poems have been published in anthologies and magazines since 1994. His debut book The Verb was released in 2000. Amaglobeli is famous for his live performances, which established him as a star among contemporary poets. He read at the 2nd Moscow Festival of Poets.
He also translated Goethe, Morgenstern, Nietzshe, Rilke, Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova and Brodsky into Georgian. He was recorded on CD with Post Industrial Boys. Since 2011 Rati Amaghlobeli has been the President of the Georgian Pen Center.
Old Toys
Size: 134x200 mm Number of pages: 144 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2012 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
Old Toys is the first book of collected stories by Irakli Charkviani. The stories can’t be described as "traditional" in Georgian sense of the word. They seem to be the author’s imaginations and forgotten memories, remembering and rethinking which is the main idea of the book. This book is the experiment of the young author, full of warm humanistic values.
Irakli Charkviani 1961-2006. Poet, prose writer, and musician, lately known under his pseudonym Mepe (The King). Charkviani was born into an élite family in Tbilisi, the capital of then-Soviet Georgia. He graduated from the Department of Western European and American Literature, Tbilisi State University. He also had attended Oxford Summer Course on World Literature. His diploma work was Nathanel West and Birth of Black Humor in the United States. He also wrote two essays on Albert Camus and the strength of Sisyphus. In the 1980s, several of Charkviani’s lyrics and short stories, noted for their rebellious character, were published in Georgian literary press. Early in the 1990s, Charkviani emerged as one of
the leading artists on Georgia’s alternative and electronic scene. Leading the projects Children’s Medicine (1991-92), and Georgian Dance Empire (1993), he performed throughout Georgia as well as abroad, particularly in Moscow and Eastern Europe. Charkviani’s debut solo-album Svan Song was recorded in Germany in 1993 and proved to be a significant influence on the Georgian alternative music of the 1990s. Charkviani also authored several poems, stories and a single novel A Calm Swim, but his music remained the principal source of his popularity.
The Office-Cleaner
Size: 120X187 mm Number of pages: 132 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2012 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
A new transgressional romance by Erekle Deisadze, The Office-Cleaner, is a chronicle of events taking place in one locality, narrated by several different characters. It is the story about "how literature has died". Mystical events about the disappearance of writers and the events connected with them are recounted by the secretary and the office-cleaner working for a publishing house. The background of developing events makes it clear that in The Office-Cleaner the reader deals with social satire. This novel is full of quotations from pop-culture, typical signs of porn culture, minimalist narration, dynamic montages or elements describing social crisis. The mocking melodrama might in places remind us of Almodovarian films, as well as Chuck Palahniuk’s prose. The novel is full of unexpected twists. Step by step, in this unraveling detective story, the reader becomes the investigator. We do not have to look for the main character where we first supposed him to be – instead, the protagonist is hiding among the transgressional rebels opposing the norms of society. Gaga Lomidze
Erekle Deisadze I was born on the 2nd of April in 1990 in a maternity hospital. I graduated from Kutaisi Akaki Tsereteli Classical Gymnasium No. 1 in 2007. I entered ShotaRustaveli Theatre and Film Georgian StateUniversityin 2008 (specializing in Documentary Film Direction). I make music, and my dream is to become the President of Georgia. The Office-Cleaner is my first romance.
Let My Twin Find Me
Size: 125x187 mm Number of pages: 120 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2005 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
Here the reality of one character is another character’s dream, which in turn can be truth for yet another character and all of these are directly or indirectly connected with each other. The novel’s textual symmetry and mythological symbols are united with the character’s consciousness, wishes, fate and actions. It is both psychedelic and realistic at the same time. The book is like a maze and can be read in one breadth.
David Dephy Born June 21, 1968. Georgian poet, novelist, performer, multimedia artist. In 1992 he graduated from the Tbilisi Academy of Fine Arts majoring in architecture. From 1995 to 2000 he collaborated with internationally renowned film directors – Otar Ioseliani and Nana Djordjadze. He inspired and participated in many poetic performances. During the Rose Revolution, he was a leader of the disobedience movement. During the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008, he joined the army of volunteers and set up a headquarters of civil solidarity. He is the author of the famous slogan, Stop Russia. In 2010-2011 he became a participant and member of New York writers and poets’ society Ledig House. In 2011 his short story Before the End was published in USA’s literary almanac The Best European Fiction 2012 edited by Aleksander Hemon. He also participated in the PEN World Voices Festival 2011 in New York. He was part of the Second Skin show in New York, 2011, with Laurie
Anderson, Yusef Komunyakaa and Salman Rushdie. His novels include Expecting Miracles at Dawn and The Gardens and The Pandemonium which is about the Russian-Georgian 2008 August war. A fictional essay, Words, Words, Words, and some short stories were translated into English and Portuguese and published in Brazil. (Lumme, 2012-2013). In 2012-2016 he wrote four new books of poetry: We All Will Get Out from Here Alive, God Is Among You, The Easter Verses, Absolute New York and one poem The Poet King, also three new novels: All the World’s Secrets, The Society of the End and the Beginning and Crowning. “He is the consummate writer. As a novelist, poet and performer, Dephy is a literary giant with deep cross-cultural connections.” Wild River Review. USA.
Memphis
Saba Literary Prize, 2009 Size: 137x198 mm Number of pages: 255 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2008 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
In the novel, the events take their start in Georgia of nineties and tell us about a painter girl from Tbilisi, who is trying to escape abroad from the difficulties of her own country, as well as her solitude and lack of love. In Europe, she becomes a famous painter, but can hardly find neither her peacefulness, nor love. She returns to her home country, in order to find a donor for her sick child. Though, she stumbles into an organization, which is profiting on homeless children’s organs. She finds herself confronted against the most important decision of her life, and at the same time, she cracks the mystery of her disappeared mother, who was vanished without a single trace, while her daughter was still a child. In the novel, the author tells about the contemporary crises of the western world, and the role of the own country in the context of modern world: is her country nothing but a donor, a still healthy transplant for old Europe, or does she some other, more important mission? Hereby, it should be also mentioned, that this is a book against alienation, indifference, treachery, heartlessness. A book, where the reader can hear the beat of a living and true heart.
Teona Dolenjashvili Born in 1977. She graduated from Tbilisi State University – Journalism and Filmmaking Faculty. She started publishing her works regularly since 2003. Her first book, the collection of short stories, January River, was published in 2005 by Bakur Sulakauri Publishing. In 2006, January River has been awarded Saba Literary Prize for the Best Debut of the Year. Her short stories are translated into German, English, Russian, Ukrainian, and
Azeri languages and had been published in various literature collections of the above mentioned countries. The novel Memphis was published in 2008 by Publishing House Siesta and was awarded Saba Literary Prize for the Best Novel of the Year in 2009.
The Room of a Fish
Size: 130X210 mm Number of pages: 196 Copyright holder: Guram Jakhutashvili, 2013 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
According to T.S. Eliot, religious experience provides the human being with an opportunity to fully perceive the world's diversity. He calls the perceiving of this diversity "a unity of world perception" and notes that with the help of associative thinking a poet connects completely unrelated phenomena with each other. These experiences are always connected with each other and create a new unity. Traces of such "unity of world perception" are visible in Guram Jakhutashvili’s emotional, poetic texts. We could call his poems "an unbearable lightness of being", since the author talks about the most difficult subjects with poetic lightness in, for example, his poem Horizontal Imagination. But if we bear in mind poetic forms, his best poems, such as Oaks, Constant Passengers, etc. stand closer to contemplative poetry rather than lyrical poetry. Along with common metaphors, like birds as a symbol of freedom, or fish as biblical symbols, or autumn and winter as seasonal metaphors of aging, here we see impressive metaphors marked with uniqueness, indicative of a true poet. In this collection of poems we will witness some experimental examples of poetic ideogram. But perhaps the most noticeable technique the author uses is enjambment, when, while reading or reading out loud, the eye follows the lines uninterruptedly – for more expression, in order to make the existential sadness even more intense or just for emotional sharpness, as if we get involved in the eternal circulation of things and the feeling of our tragic existence becomes an inseparable part of our own being. Gaga Lomidze
Guram Jakhutashvili Born in 1983 in Tbilisi. He graduated from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, the Department of Law in 2005. He has worked in the banking sector from 2005. Guram began writing poems at the age of 14. His poems were published in different national literary newspapers and magazines from 1998 to 2002. In 2000 the book of Johan Wolfgang Goethe’s translations in Georgian was published, including two translations by Guram Jakhutashvili. The works written in the years 1998-2013
include nearly 400 poems, micro poems, prosaic sketches and translations of Herman Hesse, Heinrich Heine, Reiner Maria Rilke, Johan Wolgfang Goethe, Emily Dickinson. In 2013 Guram Jakhutashvili made his debut: Siesta Publishing House published a collection of his poems − The Room of a Fish.
Candidate Jokola
Size: 130x197 mm Number of pages: 116 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2009 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
Hellman Award winning author Irakli Kakabadze writes about a Georgian presidential candidate Jokola Kistauri who graduated from a top US university and works for leading oil companies in America. He is married, has two children and lives in the US. But he is dreaming about becoming the president of Georgia and re-uniting his country, torn apart by the bloody civil war years ago. With the help of his wealthy corporate friends in the US, he goes back to Georgia and starts his political campaign. Candidate Jokola has a very motivated and energetic political team, and he also has what many aspiring politicians do not have: the charisma and the ability to attract voters. He quickly manages to become a front-runner. He has a fortune and he has about 8 months remaining until he is going to run for the president. But his chances of winning‌
Irakli Kakabadze Born in 1969. A Georgian writer, performance artist, peace and human rights activist. In 2009, he was awarded the Oxfam/ Novib PEN Freedom of Expression Prize. Kakabadze's articles and stories have been published in Georgian, Russian, and English newspapers and magazines. In 2007, Kakabadze received the Lilian Hellman/Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch. From 2008 to 2012, Kakabadze was based in Ithaca, NY, where he developed a new method of integrating performing arts and social sciences, called rethinking tragedy or transformative performance. Kakabadze has also pioneered a multi-lingual and multi-narrative performing style, called polyphonic discourse. Irakli Kakabadze's work as an artist-activist is the subject of a cinémavéritédocumentary − At the Top of My Voice. Irakli Kakabadze has published more than fifty short stories and essays in Georgian and English newspapers and magazines. His novel, Allegro or the Chronicle of One Year received the 1990 Best Literary Creation Award from the Georgian magazine Tsiskari. One of his plays, Candidate Jokola, about a love affair between a Georgian presidential candidate and an Abkhaz woman,became controversial in Georgia.
Irakli Kakabadze is the author of lyrics of the acclaimed song by Gogi Dzodzuashvili “Postindustrial Boys’, as well as “Land of Flowers”, ‘Me Denomination”, “Main Street”, etc. His play 2+2=2 was directed by Brazilian theatre director, Rodrigo Fisher at Akhmeteli Theatre in 2015 and won critical acclaim. Georgian director Irakli Gogia has directed Kakabadze’s play “Maskhara & Baudrillard’ in 2014 as an urban theatre performance. Kakabadze is the author of many lyrics and has collaborated with different musicians in different styles including Allison Wolfe (Punk Rock), Oliver Lake (Jazz), Irakli Charkviani & Ketato Popiashvili (Rock), Reggie Workman (Jazz), Gerri Allen (Jazz), Salome Korkotashvili (Jazz-Rock), Andrew Cyrille (Jazz), Robi Kukhianidze (Rock) and Gogi Dzodzuashvili (Electronic Music). His last work ‘Marginal Delirium’ was published in 2013.
Dagny or a Love Feast
Dublin Literary Prize longlist 2012 Size: 135x200 mm Number of pages: 238 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2011 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
Novel is written in English. As the title suggests, there are two contrasting stories unfolding in this novel: One is of the Norwegian poetess and dramatist Dagny Juel (18671901) – a beautiful and creative woman, whose errant life brings her to a totally foreign country. Dagny Juel was an inspiration to such celebrities as Edward Munch, August Strindberg, Gustav Vigeland, and was the "Queen" of Berlin bohemia in the1890s. The other story is a phantasmagoric mixture of religious mysticism and eroticism, mythic origins of arts and politics. It is a play with various cultural themes, traversing such extremes as Shamanic Art and Bach’s Art of the Fugue, Gnosticism and Modernist esthetics, Magic and Linguistics. This mix of themes and ideas is rendered in a story of a so called Agape – the Love Feast – a half-religious half-artistic event. The topos where the Love Feast interacts/intersects with reality is a city of limitless feasting and wine-crazed discussion – Tiflis.
Zurab Karumidze Born in 1957. He got his degree in English from Tbilisi State University; he got his PhD for the dissertation on the Wit and Conceit in the Poetry of John Donne in 1984. For years he worked as a research associate for the Center for XX Century Literary Studies at Tbilisi State University. In 1994-95 he had a stint as a visiting Fulbright Scholar studying post-modernist American meta-fiction at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Two of his short stories were published in the USA (Clockwatch Review, Bloomington, IL, 1996). His publications include a collection of short stories Opera (1998), novels: the Winedark Sea (2000), of Goats and Men (2003) and Da-
gny or a Love Feast (2006). He coedited (with James Wertsch) the book Enough: Rose Revolution in the Republic of Georgia, 2003 (Nova Science Publishers, New York, 2005). His book on the history of jazz music – the Life of Jazz – came out in 2009 and received the Saba Prize in 2010. He is an international fellow of the Center for Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis. Since 2010 he has worked for the International Foundation for Sustainable Development.
Fox-Fecund-Trot
Size: 135x200 mm Number of pages: 236 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2011 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
In 1926, an American couple traveled to Russia and Georgia to get business concessions and invest money. Their visit grew beyond the scope of a mere business venture and they ended up in the Svaneti highlands of Georgia filming footage about the trip. One of the episodes of the trip features the American couple dancing the foxtrot in the highest village of Svaneti. The story features the relationship between Georgians, Russians and Americans. The individuals are captured in a post-revolutionary period, and show their emotions and passions. This is a story about crossing cultural borders, of exploring outer and inner worlds, told through the love affairs between people with different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. It features artists, writers, intellectuals, KGB agents, occultists, etc. of that period. This is also an attempt to reread Georgian Modernism of 1920’s – the vibrant artistic and literary scenes of Tbilisi of those days. It is about the crucial period of the Sovietization of Georgia, of Bolsheviks getting their grip on the society, plus the ethnography and folklore of Georgian highlanders. The style of the narrative is based on the contextualization and the adaptation of the visual arts, literature and cinema (Georgian, American and Russian) of the 1920s, as well as the cross-cultural positioning of American, Georgian and Russian realities.
The Life of Jazz
Size: 140x185 mm Number of pages: 496 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2009 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
The book tells the story of Jazz music – from Buddy Bolden up to Wynton Marsalis and beyond. It covers the pre-Jazz musical forms, as well as the major stages in the development of this American art form. It suggests the literary portraits of major Jazz musicians throughout history and gives a description of their art.
Miniatures
Size: 190X150 mm Number of pages: 36 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2012 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
In the epoch dominated by the aesthetics of sms there is no space left for epics or large romances: small forms or micropoetry take advantage. In Giorgi Kekelidze’s Miniatures, naïve images, as well as rich metaphors resemble meditation or spiritual practice and bring us back to ethnopoetics, or the pre-historic past. The strategy of using unfinished speech is characteristic of the postmodern period. It gives the reader an opportunity for interpretation and re-contextualization. Giorgi Kekelidze’s poetic phrases are like chords in Eric Satie’s music.
Giorgi Kekelidze Born in 1984. A Georgian poet, essayist and the founder of the first Georgian digital library lib.ge. Since March 2012 he has been a general director of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. Born in Ozurgeti, Giorgi Kekelidze graduated from Tbilisi State University and got a Master's degree in Humanitarian Sciences. From 2006 to 2008, he worked at the Penal Institution of Rustavi as a teacher of Georgian language and literature. Since 2009, he has
hosted various radio programs about literary criticism. He is a literary columnist for the popular magazine Tabula. He delivers lectures on classical literature at the Free University of Tbilisi. Since 2012, he has hosted a literary show, Interpretation, on the Akhali Arkhi television channel.
Essays
Size: 115X180 mm Number of pages: 192 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2012 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
Essays contains stories written between 2005 and 2011. It is a diverse and often strange mosaic of events which occurred during that period and portrays some interesting people the author met. The book contains a section dedicated to the memory of the writer’s father, the mountain climber Zaal Kikodze, and an essay describing the author’s adventure while working with two professors from Bilbao University in the Caucasus Mountains, capturing bats for a scientific research. Archil Kikodze has turned their nighttime conversations into a humorous narrative where he’s trying to explain the phenomenon of the Basque nationalism. The essay The Feast of Ethnicities in Kakheti is dedicated to the ethnic minorities living in Georgia while Ohi Pedi Mu is about the problems of Georgian illegal immigrants in Greece. The reader will experience the 2008 Russian-Georgian war seen from the author’s perspective. He will meet with Stalin and his monument in Gori (now removed), the hound dog that inspired the writer to create its portrait after several years spent together. He will also find the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa – the essay about his work was written on the day Vargas Llosa received the Nobel Prize in Stockholm.
Archil Kikodze Born in 1972 in Tbilisi. He started writing at the age of 21. His first book Boys was published in 1996. 2002 – Deer and the Lemonade (collected stories) – won the Tbilisi Book
Sakartvelo, Tskheli Shokoladi. He is
Fair prize for the best literary debut.
the author of three tourist guide-
2005 – Sopel-Kvekana (collected stories) – was nominated for the Saba Literary Prize.
books on fast developing science tourism in Georgia (Khevi, Svaneti, Bakuriani regions), and Switzerland.
2008 – Cozy (collected stories) – Gala
At the request of the Ministry of the
Literary Prize – The Book of the Year.
Environment of Georgia, he wrote
Archil Kikodze works for several lit-
books on Kolkheti, Tusheti and Vash-
erary and non-literary magazines.
lovani National Parks and Lagodekhi
His essays and novels are regularly
Reserve. He works as a wildlife and
published in Literaturuli Palitra and
tracking guide.
Tskheli Shokoladi.
Archil Kikodze is the co-author of the
He is a professional photographer. He
documentary film The Spring of Ja-
has participated in various national
vakheti (The winner of Niamori Fes-
and international photo exhibitions
tival Prize in 2004).
and has won many awards. Further-
Screenwriter for the film I Love
more, Archil has published various
Tbilisi.
articles on environmental, ethno-
The film director Levan Koguashvili
graphic and social issues in maga-
recently finished working on Bald
zines: Surviving Together, Caucasus
Guys where Archil Kikodze played
Environment, Horizonti, Mshvenieri
one of the main characters.
Midnight Dance for Cancer
Size: 130x200 mm Number of pages: 76 Copyright holder: Zaza Koshkadze, 2013 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
Although I write as someone with little or no knowledge of Georgian literature, it is impossible to keep a good poet down, and Zaza Koshkadze’s verse leaps off the page as coming from a place where night creatures stalk the ill-lit streets, where bodies shiver ecstatic between dirty sheets, where the winners are dissatisfied and sweating and the losers are dead, where urban dreams shrivel at the faintest hint of daylight, and deliverance trades a hard bargain with despair. Zaza is a writer to watch, and his poems celebrate life and berate it, the ghosts of Kerouac and Bukowski breathing down his neck, a brave new world to conquer. Richard Gwyn Author of, The Colour Of A Dog Running Away
Zaza Koshkadze Zaza Koshkadze (Levan Tsertsvadze) was born in 1982 and graduated from the Institute of Traditional and Contemporary Art in Tbilisi, majoring in Georgian folk music. With his fellow young poets he co-founded the Net Of Alternative Poetry, and later the Pink Bus. He translated Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Chuck Palahniuk, Rog Phillips, Stephen King, Richard Laymon and other
contemporary writers. His short story Me, My Grandma, Grand Grandma and Aliens was included in the anthology 15 Best Georgian Stories in 2012. Zaza's poems are translated into six languages.
The Tale of the Two Moons
Size: 140x200 mm Number of pages: 164 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2012 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
The Tale of the Two Moons is a novel telling the story of a family descending from a mermaid living in a lake. Legends and stories from Georgia’s past and stories about the family line are recounted in the novel. It tells us the story of a family line that comes from time immemorial and still lives on. The family undergoes metamorphosis but one thing remains unchanged − no one from the family seems to be able to avoid the curse of their great ancestor − the mermaid. They visit the lake every time they are back from different places to lift the curse but in vain. This is a novel about the old and new generations who keep losing and finding each other during different periods of time – before, during and after the USSR.
Beka Kurkhuli Born in 1974. His first novel was published in Mamuli Newspaper in 1991. From 1999 to 2004 he worked as a reporter for the newspaper Dilis Gazeti, visiting different parts of Georgia and conflict regions in the Caucasus (Abkhazia, Tskhinvali region, South Ossetia and Ingushetia, Azerbaijan and the Pankisi gorge). His first book − The Dot. . . Lost People from the Lost Territories − was published in 2004 by Dilis Gazeti and the Caucasian House. In 2005 his book − The House in
the Other Place − was shortlisted for the Saba Literary Prize as the best prose work of the year. The printing house Pegasi published his book, The Meeting after That. The novels Adamo, an Empty Ashtray, a Short Summer Night, and 10 000 Words were included in the book, The Best 39 Novels. (Palitra, 2010).
The City in Snow
Size: 140x200 mm Number of pages: 173 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2013 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
A new collection by Beka Kurkhuli, the City in Snow contains five stories. In the first one, the Killer, the author narrates the lives and fights of Georgian soldiers and partisans during and after the war in Abkhazia. Real stories show the impact of the war on common people – Georgians and Abkhazians; people who used to share the same land before the war and who had been connected by a common homeland and close relations for centuries. The City in Snow is about the love of a young boy and a girl, who, despite the dark and cold days of the 1990’s, are warmed by passion that leaves its imprint forever in their lives. The protagonist of I Had a Dream is a blind man. There are a lot of blind people around us but we hardly notice them. We give them a helping hand only to fulfill our duty. The writer tries to describe the feelings of a human being who cannot see daylight. In the story the Evening the author recalls his school years, the multinational Tbilisi of those times and his friends, most of whom are gone now. The fifth story, Musakali, tells the story of Georgian military men sent to Afghanistan on a NATO mission this year.
Beka Kurkhuli Born in 1974. His first novel was published in Mamuli Newspaper in 1991. From 1999 to 2004 he worked as a reporter for the newspaper Dilis Gazeti, visiting different parts of Georgia and conflict regions in the Caucasus (Abkhazia, Tskhinvali region, South Ossetia and Ingushetia, Azerbaijan and the Pankisi gorge). His first book − The Dot. . . Lost People from the Lost Territories − was published in 2004 by Dilis Gazeti and the Caucasian House. In 2005 his book − The House in
the Other Place − was shortlisted for the Saba Literary Prize as the best prose work of the year. The printing house Pegasi published his book, The Meeting after That. The novels Adamo, an Empty Ashtray, a Short Summer Night, and 10 000 Words were included in the book, The Best 39 Novels. (Palitra, 2010).
Apocalyptic Beast
Size: 140X140 mm Number of pages: 100 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2011 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
The whole series of minimalist novels written over the course of 6 years (between 1993-1998) based on the experiment started by the author while studying in Germany, which later continued in Georgia. The cycle of parody texts began with the first novel the 9th Symphony. The prototypes were the author’s friends, Georgians living with him in a small cottage in one of the German villages. While searching for new forms to express his ideas, the author had started an unintentional linguistic experiment – personal feelings and concrete stories connected with friends were developed by mixing them with the author’s favorite literary characters and plots. Notably, these were times when the author practically did not have any information on postmodernist literature. Natia Guliashvili Tskheli Shokoladi magazine
Giorgi Maisuradze Born in 1970 in Tbilisi. He studied History, Philosophy and the History of Culture in Tbilisi, Saarbrucken and Berlin Universities. He has worked at Berlin Literary and Culture Research Centre since 2008. Maisuradze received his Ph.D. in Philosophy at Berlin Humboldt University in 2009. He has been Assistant Professor at Ilia Chavchavadze Tbilisi State University since 2010. List of publications: 2013 – Orthodox Ethics and the Spirit of Unfreedom, Bakur Sulakauri Publishing House, Tbilisi; 2013 – Genese und Genealogie.
Zur Bedeutung und Funktion des Ursprungs in der Ordnung der Genealogie, Kulturverlag Kadmos, Berlin; 2013 – Kill Tbilisi, Bakur Sulakauri Publishing House, Tbilisi; 2012 – Lost Contexts; 2011 – Closed Society and its Watchmen; 2011 – Apocalyptic Beast; 1998 – Sexes and Civilization.
The Last Stop
Size: 120X187 mm Number of pages: 82 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2012 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
At first glance, the story by Mata Mindeli, the Last Stop, which is full of British humor, reminds us of novels by Fielding and Green. But the more we get involved in reading, the more mystical it becomes, resembling Bradburian narrative, or surrealist prose, in which supernatural reality takes advantage. But what can we say when this reality coexists with our dimension and metaphysics turns into physics? Parallel worlds are involved here very naturally which in reality are probably one single unit. Nothing has vanished from the memory either – neither the days spent in a British university campus, nor the old James’s Hotel and the noisy parties with classmates. Nevertheless, the memory is vague and, as in psycho noir novels, it cannot serve as a proof of the truthfulness of events. Gaga Lomidze
Mata Mindeli Born in Tbilisi. Graduated from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, majoring in philology. She continued studying in the United Kingdom, taking courses in Business and Literature. Mindeli has spent several years in the UK and other European countries working in different fields. This is her first book.
Moo!‌
(Zura Kikodze, Gaga Nakhutsrishvili)
Size: 120X170 mm Number of pages: 48 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2012 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
With the support of the Foundation for Sustainable Development and Exchange (Switzerland) and the Alliance for United and Responsible World (France) the play had a great success on the Georgian stage in its time, with the house constantly sold out. The play with its phantasmagorical, fairytale world and grotesque reflects reality in a most vivid way. It tells the story of the financially troubled Georgian cows looking for freedom, fleeing to Switzerland for a better life. However, later they discover that the life of cows is not perfect there either, so at the end of the play they fly to the evergreen planet Sirius where flowers are many and grass is enough for everyone, where nobody bullies the other and no one strives to be the number one, where there are no differences and everyone’s equal. This tragicomic play is at the same time an allegory on human existence, but free from intensive and pathetic emotions. It is more ironic, or self-ironic. We can view the play Moo!.. As an example how to solve seemingly difficult problems easily.
Gaga Nakhutsrishvili Born in 1971. He graduated from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University in 1993, majoring in History. He studied at Rothenburg Goethe Institute (Germany) and took classes in literature in Perugia (Italy). Gaga Nakhutsrishvili is the Saba Literary Prize winner of 2003. List of publications: 1996 – Collection of poems: A Strange Traveller; 1994 – Published the poetry in the magazine: XX Century (issues #1 and #3); 1997 – Translated Garcia Lorca’s play Mariana Pineda, which was staged at the Movie Actors’ Theatre, in Tbilisi; 1997 – Three poems were translated in Slovenian and published in the book Dnevi Poezije In Vina, Medana, 1997, GoriskaBrda; 2000 – Co-author of the mario-
nette play Mouuuu staged in the Basement Theater; 2001 – Collection of poems: Simplicity; 2002 – Collection of poems: Departure and Expectation; 2003 – Co-author of the marionette play Pressure staged at the Basement Theater; 2006 – Collection of poems: Unexpectedly; 2007 – Collection of poems: Unusual Times; 2009 – Collection of poems: The Girl and Europe; 2012 – Beyond the horizon; 2012 – Strophe; 2012 – Moo (Marionette Play with Zurab Kikodze).
Argentine Pitbull
Size: 130x195 mm Number of pages: 240 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2011 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
Argentine Pit Bullwill send you to the magic realism of southern American fiction as well as to the detective stories of Arthur Conan Doyle and the films of Quentin Tarantino. Totally unexpected turns, thrilling suspense, cinematic dialogues and composition of the texts make this book an easy, enjoyable read.
Sandro Naveriani It would have been a great source of inspiration for any future writer to live in a country I was born in. It would have been an invaluable experience for any author to live through those three different decades that I had to live. I spent my childhood in a shattered communist era which left me with a burden of complexes I am still trying to overcome. The second decade was a time of never-ending wars, of frozen houses with no electricity and water, of people with hungry stomachs, of drugs rampant on the streets and of corrupt police. This period left me psychologically traumatized. I am still trying to recover.
The events that took place in those two decades played an important role in my forming as a writer but only time will tell if I’m a successful writer. However, I know I won’t stop writing no matter how successful or unsuccessful I might be, if the process of creating fiction remains as pleasing and rewarding for me as it is now. As for the current decade, I have a period of awakening. This process progresses gradually, but I am glad it goes forward.
Acathisto
Size: 135x190 mm Number of pages: 72 Copyright holder: Paata Shamugia, 2011 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge
Paata Shamugia refers to the writing style concerned with rejection – he declares his disobedience to the traditional understanding of "poetic" in Georgian poetry. With these texts we have the type of the poetic expression based on the act of using and adapting different languages, as well as on the instrumentalization of Kitsch and the endless metamorphosis of the image of a poet (poet as an expert, poet as a lyricist, poet as a tribune). It all is expressed in the remaking of religious topics, organization of poems on the mundane routine, and political commentary. Giorgi Khasaia
Paata Shamugia Born in 1983 in Abkhazia. He graduated from Tbilisi State University majoring in modern literature. He has worked for different publishing houses since 2007, writing poems and critical essays. He became known to the general public with his scandalous book Antytkaosani, confronting the so-called Georgian Bible – The Knight in the Panther’s Skin. In 2010, Paata Shamugia published a book of collected poems, titled Superiority, which placed him at the center of public attention. Unlike its predecessor, the book was approved by the critics.
Reviewers have hailed the author as an extraordinary representative of modern Georgian poets. In 2011 Paata Shamugia’s new book Acathisto was published in which the author accomplishes self-expression through the reorganization of religious topics and fierce social and political pathos. His poetry has been translated into English, Russian, French and German.
Mystery of Oldtown
Size: 145x200 mm Number of pages: 208 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2008 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge According to the long-established tradition, each representative of the Thatchers, having reached the age of fourteen, became the sovereign of the magic Herbert Castle. However, the rule was broken a long time ago. One of the members of the Thatcher family, the most evil wizard, Henry, who returns to the castle several years later, intends to become the lord of the castle himself and his own father falls the victim to his vicious plan. But Peter, the younger brother, escapes him and, via a magic portal connecting the two different worlds, finds his retreat in a small town of the real world hoping that his evil brother will never find him there. Several decades elapse. A small town surrounded with a dense forest is frequented by a huge creature, which assaults it at night. Many an experienced hunter tries to kill him, but unsuccessfully. A fourteen-yearold boy David Thatcher, his friends and an old hunter have no idea that they are the ones to solve this mystery. His old grandfather, Peter, and his father, Alex, thoroughly hide from David his true origin, for which they will have to pay high cost in the long run. David and his friends are trying to find out what creature is roving in the town at night. David realizes that it is looking for him as it longs for his death. As the story goes on, the fourteen-year-old Thatcher and his family are assaulted several times. His grandfather, Peter Thatcher becomes aware that his evil brother has eventually found him. He tries to save his grandson from the danger. Apart from several brutal battles, attacks and discovery of mysterious places, Mystery of Oldtown abounds in cheerful stories characteristic of the bizarre and thoroughly eccentric population of Oldtown, Dave’s young friends and his school life. Mystery of Oldtown is the first part of the trilogy..
Dimitri Shvelidze “It was nearly midnight” – these words mean a lot to me because in this period of time I started writing my first book. I was only 17 years old and could not realize that it would be so enjoyable, creative and thrilling. Creating a new world, characters and writing a fantasy book for teenagers – it became my first big goal. Mystery of Oldtown is the name of the trilogy. After writing the first part in 2008, it was published by Georgian Publishing House Siesta. Following to this, I started writing short stories and won two literature contests in Georgia Small Prose and Muse 2009. The true writer always looks at his creation with a big care. I was one of the first Authors in Geor-
gia who began writing fantasy books for young adults. It was not an easy decision but after positive responses from critics and young readers, I decided to continue what I have started – to write another 2 books and create the trilogy. After graduating from Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Law, with the support of Siesta Publishing house, we published the second part of The Mystery of Oldtown in 2009 and the third and the final part in 2011. Writing novels and short stories became essential part of my life and I will carry on doing this for the entire life.
Snowstorm of Orange Dandelions Size: 120x187 mm Number of pages: 116 Copyright holder: Siesta Publishing House, 2016 Contact: books@siestagroup.ge, keti@siestagroup.ge Tamar’s first fictional text “Snowstorm of Orange Dandelions” is a novel. It was published in May 2016 and has been gaining popularity in Georgia. The book follows psychiatrist on a journey with survivors of physical and sexual abuse. Facing cruelty inflicted by “otherwise ordinary citizens” and dealing with impaired lives of trauma victims the protagonist abandons prominent social and psychological theories of violence and turns to conventional daily ambiance of the capital of Georgia. The stories of her patients point to a culturally distinctive source for the philosophy behind disregarding human dignity and subjugating one’s life course to custom-made familial roles. The foundation for this sort of societally tolerated forms of violence against women lies in the patriarchal establishment of her newly democratized homeland where rape is assisted by church-promoted and culturally embraced misogyny. Having suffered humiliation and denigration of unparalleled subjective and social scales female and male survivors of sexual assault remain linguistically and culturally mute. Due to discursive blind-spot on this particular form of violence numerous cases of sexual exploitation, humiliation and torture remain publicly nonverbalized and untold in Georgia. Tamar’s novel is a literary form of ethnographic witness account. The only admissible method for salvaging the survivors’ dignity in a rape culture by means of telling the truth with imagined particulars and factual authenticity. Along with its definite focus on the personhood-belittling philosophy of patriarchy long-desired social justice in “Snowstorm of Orange Dandelions” represents means to the end of human flourishing. Quest for phenomenon bigger than human prosperity is markedly superior psychological drive among the novel’s characters. The text boasts distinctive multi-vocal style: one reads voices pertaining to different genders, geography, social strata and even historical epochs. In spite of idiomatic sophistication the narrative flows with ease and elegance making the story extensive but whole. The story’s finale is the same unorthodox as its entire textual structure. This is the book with its feet firmly on the ground and the head looking for alternative existential universes.
Tamar Tandashvili Tamar Tandashvili was born in 1973 in Tbilisi, Georgia. She holds degrees in Languages and Literature (Tbilisi State University), Psychology (Tbilisi D.Uznadze Institute of Psychology) and Conflict Studies (University of Notre Dame, Indiana). Tamar’s doctoral dissertation in progress (Central European University, Budapest) examines social dimension and cultural practices of personhood construction among Georgian women activists. Having lived through two wars and intermittent political disturbances, Tamar observed the unlikely historical continuum from the very last decade of soviet era to the newly democratised European-to-be state. Her blog on psychology and social milieu (one of the most-read among its kind) accurately depicts the schizophrenic contextual change and consequent ethical incon-
gruity in post-soviet Georgian society. Tamar teaches at the Ilia State University (Tbilisi) and runs private counselling practice along with working for LGBTQ and women’s organizations as psychotherapist and coach. From 2013 she is involved in promoting LGBTQ and women’s rights. The author is one of the pioneers in introducing and promoting discourse on non-human personhood in Georgia. She is passionate about animal rights and volunteers for an informal network of activists operating as emergency animal rescue team.
Contents Erlom Akhvlediani Givi Alkhazishvili Rati Amaglobeli Irakli Charkviani Erekle Deisadze David Dephy Teona Dolenjashvili Guram Jakhutashvili Irakli Kakabadze Zurab Karumidze Giorgi Kekelidze Archil Kikodze Zaza Koshkadze Beka Kurkhuli Beka Kurkhuli Giorgi Maisuradze Mata Mindeli Gaga Nakhutsrishvili Sandro Naveriani Paata Shamugia Dimitri Shvelidze Tamar Tandashvili
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