Rights List - Autumn 2018

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Diogene Publishers Rights List Autumn 2018 DIOGENE

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Diogene Publishers Rights List Autumn 2018 Fiction Aleko Shugladze Irma Tavelidze Abo Iashagashvili Kote Jandieri Marina Elbakidze

6 8 10 12 14

Children’s Fiction Tea Lomadze Tea Topuria Nana Katsiashvili

16 18 20

DIOGENE

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PenMarathon is an original literary contest founded and organized by Diogene Publishers since 2002. PenMarathon aims to discover new talents, challenge established writers, facilitate intercultural exchange and to diversify the literary scene. Through years, PenMarathon established itself as one of the most important literary events of Georgia. In 2018 and for the first time, PenMarathon was held in international format in partnership with Media Campus Frankfurt and Mojoreads.com and was open to German and Georgian participants. PenMarathon 2018 was supported by partners from Germany, Media Campus Frankfurt and Mojoreads.com and up to 10 partners from Georgia. The contest was organized within the official programme of Georgia as a guest of honor country of Frankfurt book fair with support of the Ministry of Culture of Georgia. 23 authors from Georgia and Germany, selected by two independent, German and Georgian juries,

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took part in a common 24-hour long writing session and participated in the workshop designed to sharpen their writing skills. The writing session and the workshop took place from 19th to 22nd of June 2018 at Marosheni Resort in Kakheti, Georgia. Participants were given an assignment prepared by jurors and which had to be reflected in their texts. The award ceremony and the presentation of the bilingual anthology (10 selected texts - 5 German, 5 Georgian) of PenMarathon 2018 is held at the Frankfurt bookfair on 11th of October 2018. Two first prizes (3000 Euros each), two-second prizes (2000 Euros each) and two third (1000 Euros each) will be awarded to Georgian and German participants accordingly. From 2018, PenMarathon will be organized as an annual international literary competition. DIOGENE

DIOGENE

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Aleko Shugladze

Fiction

HIDING

ALEKO SHUGHLADZE

Born in Tbilisi in 1965. He graduated from Tbilisi Polytechnic in 1987. At the same time, he was a student of the art faculty at Tbilisi State University, specialising in cinema direction. From 1989 to 1993 he worked in the Georgian Film Studio as an assistant director. From 1994 to 1997 he was an artist at Margo Korabliova’s Performance Theatre. From 1998 to 2001 he worked as a film director for Caucasian House, where he made up to ten documentary films against violence. From 2001 to 2003 he worked as a director and scriptwriter for the NGO Studiomobile — the Accent on Mobility. He began writing in 1989. In 2001 his story Answers for a Magazine with a Small Print Run won the mayor’s special prize. In 2015 his story The Man of Books was shortlisted in the Tsero literary competition.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY • Hiding, Diogene Publishers, 2016 • The Man of Books, Printing World, 2015 • Samsara, Bakur Sulakauri Publishing, 2002 • Attempting to Escape, Merani Publishing, 2001 LITERARY PRIZES AND AWARDS • Mayor’s Special Prize 2001 for story Answers for a Magazine with a Small Print Run • Literary award SABA of Best Georgian Novel of 2016 Reading Material Georgian original, English sample, German sample, Russian sample Rights Sold • Germany, Klak Verlag 2018 • UK, Francis Boutle Publishers 2018 DIOGENE

The novel is autobiographical by nature. Every character is, in fact, a real person. The main protagonist, Aleko Shughladze’s mother, has an incurable illness. She becomes aware of this later, after she breaks a leg while praying and, when being examined in a clinic, a cancer specialist discovers that she is ill and informs Aleko. It turns out that a lot of people knew of her illness, but for some reason kept it hidden as long as they could from her son. Aleko also has a sister who has suffered from oligophrenic schizophrenia since she was a child. After their mother becomes bed-ridden, Aleko takes over the care of his sister and his life enters a difficult stage. This is a major ordeal in his life: he has to have patience and not lose his humanity. He should not grudge love to someone who is doomed to die. At the same time, the main protagonist recalls his life. Events from Soviet times intersect organically with today’s events. Together with all the difficulties of the Communist era, national traditions and rituals enter his mind, and he has to face up to this. What begins is a destruction of so-called sacral clichés, in the manner of the protagonist’s unconventional life, now with irony, now with sarcasm, concealed pain and a desire to escape from everything. Autobiographical space gradually loses track of the world shown in the novel. Another important character in the novel is an inspector who represents the side of Aleko’s relatives and is investigating a case which concerns the mysteriously obscured relationship of the main hero and his mother. The relatives, who are fans of ritual, try to blame Aleko for breaking with their ancestral traditions. In fact, the inspector has managed to study the protagonist’s life and, in the course of his investigation, the story of Aleko and his late father’s past surfaces. Aleko works as a book distributor, and his everyday relationships with various people is another aspect of the novel. One relationship is with a girl much younger than him, whom he is in love with. Very few people stand by him to the end, and one of these is a friend who is a mountain climber, who helps Aleko realise his extraordinary decision. With the friend’s help, Aleko hides his mother away in a remote village and announces that she has died. He goes through with a fake funeral in great and plausible detail, thus doing his duty by his relatives. After the ‘funeral’ he hides his mother even further away, in India. where he settles down with her at the foot of a holy mountain. The inspector and Aleko manage to meet only once, at the end of the novel. This happens when Aleko returns home in order to try and hide his sister, too. DIOGENE

Novel 200 pages

Lela Kodalashvili literary critic ‘I am compelled to note that it is rare for anyone to hit on a text with such exhaustive cinematic dynamics. It requires only a little technical adjustment to make what one could call a ready-made film script, for an absurd film comedy, if you like,, or for a drama, or a cognitive film. ’ Shota Iatashvili poet, literary critic ‘This book is one of contrasts. Aleko Shughladze keeps to the style he had when he entered literature, but finds new tonalities and probes more deeply. This is a novel about a struggle with death and illness, where people learn about making relationships in this struggle, where they are liberated from stereotypes and complexes. In the 1990s, when Aleko Shughladze first appeared, he attracted the reader with his distinctly free and easy way of writing, in which carefree humour, paradoxical points of view and existential difficulties were organically combined. ’ Zaza Burchuladze Writer ‘Hiidng’ is a black and white book with colourful finale. That’s why it’s like a rainbow on the top of the muddy pool. ’

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Irma Tavelidze

Fiction

The Invention of The East Irma Tavelidze is a masterful storyteller with a unique literary voice. The stories in The Invention of the East consist mainly of seductively slow tales that the first-person narrator recalls from the past. Often the stories involve an amour fou – lives full of burning, insatiable longing. Tavelidze focuses on a particular type of person, varying the character with great literary skill: he or she is a self-centered intellectual, approaching collapse, with a strong libido, prone to transgressions and excesses, with an active imagination that replaces or absorbs the character’s perception of life. Although the stories tell of particular individuals, they are pervaded by the atmosphere of the country and the period. One of the short stories from the collection Gori Fortress was included in the Anthology of Georgian Short Stories of 21st century Goris Fästning published by Swedish edition house Tranan. The Anthology is named after Irma Tavelidzes story. The narrator of the story is a 10-year-old boy who tries to find his own way to poetry and at the same time to make sense of his vague desires and annoying duties. Gori – a city in Eastern Georgia – with its well-known fortress serves as the background for the narrator’s reflections. The Invention of the East was shortlisted for the Literary Award SABA in 2014 in the category The Best Collection of Stories of the Year.

Short Story Collection 138 pages

Eka Kevanishvili poet, literary critic ‘Irma Tavelidze’s texts never have anything open-handed about them; They remind you of a clenched fist from which the fingers have to be slowly freed, one by one. ’

IRMA TAVELIDZE

Born in 1973 in the city of Gori is a contemporary Georgian writer and translator. Since completing her degree in philology she has lived in Tbilisi working as a translator. She has translated literary works of French, English and American authors including works of J. M. Coetzee and Michel Houellebecq. Since 1999 she has been a creative writer publishing short stories in various Georgian newspapers and magazines. In 2007 her first volume of stories Autobiography in French was published and following year the author won the TSERO literary competition, in which the prize is awarded by readers. Irma Tavelidze’s story Gori Fortress appeared in Swedish translation in the the Anthology of Georgian Short Stories Goris Fästning, published by Swedish edition house Tranan.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY • The Invention of the East, Diogene Publishers, 2013 • Autobiography in French, Siesta Publishing House, 2007 LITERARY PRIZES AND AWARDS Literary Prize TSERO 2008 for the best short story The Order of Time Consent Reading Material Georgian original, English sample, German sample Rights Sold • Sweden, Tranan • Germany, edition.fotoTAPETA 2018 DIOGENE

DIOGENE

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Abo Iashagashvili

Fiction

TURKISH MARCH Turkish March is debut book of Abo Iashagashvili. It is a historical action novel describing events and adventures taking place in XIX century Tbilisi. It is a detective-like novel in which you can hear the sounds of that epoch’s Tbilisi streets and different areas and chronicles come alive. The novel is partially based on actual events and some of the characters have real prototypes. What can bond the first wife of Persian Shah and the consular Reza Han - an addicted collector of musical jewel boxes? Or what can be common between Vice Governor Chaikovski, who is fond of night walks through Tiflis, and Giorgi Vakhvakhov, a former student of Paris and Berlin Universities, who secretly translates works of Stevenson and Kipling? Actually nothing at all, but one fine day, when a renowned terrorist from Istanbul Mustafa, nicknamed ‘Blind’ visits Tiflis, everything is changed and the faith of those characters became forever twisted.

Tilman Spreckelsen FAZ ‘… erweist sich ‚Royal Mary‘ nicht nur als ausgezeichnet recherchierter, mit gut platzierten Anachronismen versehener historischer Kriminalroman, sondern auch als geistreiches Spiel mit dem Leser. ’ Irene READOST ‘… mit viel Witz und Humor geschrieben. (…) eine erfrischende, spannungsvolle, heitere Lektüre, die die LeserInnen mit dem karnevalesken Treiben mitreisst und eine verlorene Welt des 19. Jahrhunderts auf kreative und authentische Weise wieder zum Leben erweckt. ’

ABO IASHAGHASHVILI

Soon after graduating from Tbilisi State University he went to Germany to study History and Philosophy in Munich at the Ludwig Maximilian University and then in Berlin at Humboldt University. After completing his studies Abo went backpacking through Europe, to explore and experience Europe’s actual culture and perception. In the early 2000s he returned to his native city and worked at various jobs. As an enthusiastic traveler and lover of history, he found his ideal job as a mountain guide, a profession that gave him a new opportunity to study the history of his own country in depth. Before taking tourists to the mountains, Abo always guides them around Tbilisi, where many diverse cultures – Georgian, Persian, German, Armenian, Greek, Russian, Kurd, Ottoman, Jewish – have collided and co-existed over the centuries: the city has always been a revelation for foreign travelers. In fact, Tbilisi has become the young author’s inspiration too: he began reviving old stories and chronicles about the capital and has drafted a cycle of novels about XIX century Tbilisi. Turkish March is Abo Iashaghashvili’s debut; published by Diogene Publishers in 2014, it was followed by a second novel, Royal Mary. The novels struck readers as so interesting and masterly that in 2015 both of them were nominated simultaneously in two categories, the best debut of the year and the best novel. Abo won the latter prize. He also contributes to various literary journals and magazines, publishing short stories and articles.

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Novel 156 pages

BIBLIOGRAPHY • Royal Mary, Diogene Publishers, 2014 • Turkish March, Diogene Publishers, 2014 • Old Tbilisi Thugs, 2016 LITERARY PRIZES AND AWARDS Literary award SABA 2015 in category the best novel for Royal Mary Reading Material Georgian original, English sample, German sample

Cornelia Wolter Neue Ruhr Zeitung ‘…ein atmosphärisch dichter Krimi, spannend und mit vielen historischen und literarischen Querverweisen. ’ DIE PRESSE Wien ‘Schwungvoller Krimi mit tiefen kulturhistorischen Einblicken. ’

Rights Sold Germany, edition.fotoTAPETA (Royal Mary) DIOGENE

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Kote Jandieri

Fiction

CINDERELLA’S NIGHT

KOTE JANDIERI

Born in 1958 in Tbilisi is a Georgian script and short story writer.Soon after graduation a promising young author published his first short stories and started his career as a screenwriter. Since then Kote Jandieri has authored numerous scripts for documentary and fiction movies that gained popularity through Georgian and international audiences. Jandieri also has authored two short story collections. His prose works have won a number of literary prizes in Georgia. His story Family Chronicle was included in the book ‘The Best 10 Georgian Short Stories’. In 2010 his novella Cartridge from Different Caliber was included in the Anthology of Georgian Prose published in Germany. Jandieri’s short stories have been published in many countries among them: Globalization - ADK Publishing 2015, Azerbaijan; Literatura Georgiana - Instituto Tlaxcalteca de la Cultura 2015, Mexico; Georgien berättar: Goris fästning - Tranan 2013, Sweden; Contemporary Georgian Fiction - Dalkey Archive Press 2012, USA; Georgian short stories from 20th century: Georgische Erzählungen des 20. Jahrhunderts - Suhrkamp 2000, Germany.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY • Globalization, Palitra L Publishing, 2010 • Cinderella’s Night, Diogene Publishers, 2009 • Georgian National Ballet, (Editor), Published in Istanbul, 1996 • From the Life of Bad Guys, Merani Publishing, 1995 LITERARY PRIZES AND AWARDS • Literary award SABA 2010 in category the best short story collection for Cinderella’s Night • The Writers’ Union prize in category the best prosaic work of 1992 Reading Material Georgian original, English sample, German sample Rights Sold • Germany, Klak Verlag (Globalisation) • Turkey, Kalem (Cinderella’s Night) • Azerbaijan, ADK Publishing (Cinderella’s Night) • Sweden, Tranan (Globalisation) • USA Dalkey Archive Press (Cinderella’s Night) • Mexico Instituto Tlaxcalteca de la Cultura (Cinderella’s Night) DIOGENE

The collection of short stories by Kote Jandieri over three decades offers readers a wide range of topics as well as the impressive richness of the author’s authentic language. Blackberry is the story of a literary forgery. The author discovers a manuscript written in expert Latin by an unknown author in the 20th century. The story describes the life of a Jewish man living in the epoch of Jesus Christ who eventually becomes a Christian saint. Family Chronicle is an epistolary novella. The members of a family communicate with each other in a strange way: by writing letters to one another. A Short Vacation is a story about degradation of human values. The story is told with great skill, portraying an ordinary person facing all the roughness and violence of the Soviet army. Among his short stories we can in particular highlight a longer story, or short novel Globalisation. It is a story about an ordinary man who witnesses epochal events throughout Georgia’s history. The whole story is narrated by a disabled peasant farmer from the region of Kakhetia. The story of the events which befall his family acts as a mirror to the troubled history of twentieth and twenty-first century Georgia. The inhabitants of the small village experience every turmoil of the entire country. They live through the period of the Russian Revolution when Georgia was a part of the Russian Empire. There followed the short-lived period of Georgian independence between 1917 and 1921, the subsequent civil war, Stalin’s purges, the Second World War, Soviet communism, the collapse of the Soviet Union and then the armed conflicts in Abkhazia and Ossetia and the aftermath. Some people are flexible enough to adapt to the new capitalist system and the requirements of globalisation, such as the entrepreneurial peasant woman who opens a coffee shop, but many are lost and confused. Living in freedom appears too complicated and uncomfortable for many people. Orthodox Christianity which had been so much repressed under the Soviet Union, suddenly also became intolerant of any other beliefs. The Kakhetian peasant-narrator tells his sad story with humour and in the characteristic regional dialect. The tragic story of his sister who became a Jehovah’s Witness is just one of many stories of those who have had to endure similar persecution, right up to the present day.

DIOGENE

Short StoryCollection 324 pages

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Marina Elbakidze

Fiction

Exchange Action takes place in the zone of the ethnic conflict. Main protagonist, Gogi, tries to find and rescue his own son, who is a prisoner of war. Tired by unsuccesful search of his son and by horrible scenes of war he is witnessing, Gogi decides to take the affair into his own hands and take part personnaly in research and rescue operations.

Short Story Collection 180 pages

One of the short stories of Marina Elbaqidze Bye,Amigo is being made into a motion picture. Title: Citizen Saint Director: Tinatin Kajrishvili (recent titles include Horizon (2018), Brides (2014) Producer: Lasha Khalvashi (recent titles include Neighbors (2018), Scary Mother (2017) Production Company: Artizm Coproduction countries: Sweden, Germany Production planned in Autumn 2019

Marina Elbakidze

Psychologist, works at Tbilisi State University (faculty of psychology and education). Marina Elbakidze is an editor of Carl Gustav Jung’s Georgian translations: ‘Psychology and Religion’ and ‘Psychology and Alchemy’. Her short stories are published in literary magazines since late 90-s. She has won several literary contests: second place in literary contest ‘Pen-marathon’ and literary award ‘Saba’ for her first short story collection ‘Exchange’. Marina Elbakidze’s short story was among 10 best Georgian short stories of the year.

LITERARY PRIZES AND AWARDS Literary award SABA of Best Georgian Short Stories Collection of 2013

For years she works as a researcher and analyst of minority rights and conflict regulation. She is the member of the peace dialogue between Georgians and Abkhazians. She have published several articles about that issue.

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Reading Material Georgian original, English sample, Russian sample DIOGENE

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Tea Lomadze

Children’s Fiction

PALOMA THE STRANGE PRiNCESS Every girl in the childhood dreams to be a princess. But they probably do not know that not all princesses are the same. Some of them are quite strange. Strange because they look like ordinary girls but do not behave like princesses should. Paloma, the only daughter of the king in a small, beautiful country is just as strange. Everyone was surprised when once Paloma disappeared from the palace. Here begins her long history full of adventures. Palomaexperienced danger, but the kind and sensitive princess didn’t not changed, on the contrary, she let other people she met on her way to change and become better. On her long journey she spread friendliness and finally found a genuine and unexpected love.

Children’s book (bilingual edition Georgian-English) 152 pages

Paloma The Strange Princess is not a fairy tale in the traditional sense. There are no magical objects and events. But this story is still a magical tale, because it became favorite book of many children in Georgia. The book has received the second prize in the literary competition of publishing house Diogene in the nomination - Best Children’s Book of the Year. 2006 was published bilingual edition (English-Georgian) of the book illustrated by well-known Georgian painter Rusudan Petviashvili.

TEA LOMADZE

Born 1966 in Tbilisi, Georgia. 1989 she graduated from the faculty of Journalism at Tbilisi State University. She has been working as a journalist at public broadcast and at Tbilisi State University in the department of Telecommunication. In 1996 Diogene Publishers announced a contest for children’s prose. Tea Lomidze, who had been inventing some short fairy-tales only for her children, wrote her first children’s story Paloma The Strange Princess specially for this contest. She was awarded the second prize and the book was published in 1997. It was followed by: One Little Miracle (2000); Chano-Chea (2001); Stories Brought by the Wind (2005); Paloma (bilingual edition, 2006); The Letter in the Bottle (2010).

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BIBLIOGRAPHY • The Letter in the Bottle, 2010. • Paloma (bilingual edition) Diogene Publishers, 2006 • Chano-Chea, Diogene Publishers, 2001 • Paloma the Stange Princess, Diogene Publishers, 1997 Reading Material Georgian original, English translation (full) DIOGENE

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Tea Topuria

Children’s Fiction

TALES TOO GOOD TO SLEEP THROUGH

TEA TOPURIA

Born in 1977 in Sukhumi, is a prize-winning writer and poet. In 1998 she graduated from the faculty of Journalism at Tbilisi State University. Since 1998 Tea Topuria has been working as a journalist in the field of Human Rights and Environmental Protection. Currently she works as a journalist for radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Tbilisi bureau. Tea has written a collection of prose and poetry The Mint Threshing Floor (2007), a poetry collection Ecocide (2011) and a number of highly acclaimed books of short stories for children, including The Holidays of Paradea (2011), Tales too Good to Sleep Through (2011) and One Long Day on Another Planet (2014), a collection of stories Two Rooms in Cairo (2016). Nowadays Tea Topuria is regarded as one of the most talented and notable authors in Georgia, contributing to children’s literature. She has been short-listed and has won many prestigious literary competitions. In 2014 and 2015 Topuria was nominated from Georgia for Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY • One Long Day on Another Planet, Bakur Sulakauri Publishing, 2014 • Tales too Good to Sleep through, Diogene Publishers, 2011 • Ecocide, Diogene Publishers, 2011 • The Holidays of Paradea, Diogene Publishers, 2011 • The Mint Threshing Floor, Diogene Publishers, 2007 LITERARY PRIZES AND AWARDS • Literary Competition TSERO 2014, jury prize. • Literary prize GALA 2012 in category the best children’s book for Tales too Good to Sleep through • Literary prize (III Place) Golden Feather 2008 in children’s literature for VarazVache

‘These stories are for the little sleepyheads who are often late for school or nursery. They should be read at the crack of the dawn, in a loud, piercing voice. If your child still doesn’t wake up you can always pour cold water over him or her. I collected these tales in a part of Georgia which is sometimes scorching hot, where the mothers spend their days cooling down water specifically in order to pour it over their children,’ the author writes in the preface to the collection Tales Too Good to Sleep Through. The compilation consists of twenty-six fairy-tales and in the category of best children’s book won the literary prize GALA 2012. The tales presented in the collection are recommended for preschool and elementary school children. The book has brilliant illustrations by Iakob Gigolashvili. The structure of her fairy stories is based on opposition, inversion and reversal. What is needed to send children to sleep is used to keep them awake, domestic and wild animals change places, a woman wears her clothes back to front so that she can do exceptionally well, etc. The creator of Tales Too Good to Sleep Through explains ‘Suppose this woman didn’t exist; I’ll finish her backwards. Perhaps someone will read it and it will strike everyone in the opposite way.’ Something like a series of pseudo-finales follows: the fairy story seems to end, but as it ends, it is followed by the story of an existing fairytale’s publication and of the protest action made by parents against it. After that an omitted fairy story appears in the text, and after the omitted fairy story we get yet another conclusion… In short, this is no classic fairy story. ‘Sorrow here, joy there; bran here, flour there,’ is how the ending puts goodness and badness, everybody and everything somewhere other than their right place. In their entirety, the non-linear nature of the stories is a part of the contemporary literary experience and, as we see here, such a literary genre is allowed to be as organic, as is a fairy story. One fairy story, entitled Ninika and the Magnetic Clouds, happens in a land which other lands are hostile to, because it can’t always hold out against an enemy attack: this land on every occasion flees somewhere. The author considers that this is very like Georgia.

Fairy Tales 168 pages

Lia Liqokeli poet ‘On the whole, Tea Topuria has a very individual way of proceeding, her own logic which she constructs, and everything in it is perfectly correct, yet when you stand back from it, it looks very strange. But if you grasp what is going on, you too will join in the game. ’ Maka Ldokonen writer ‘These stories are so heavily loaded that they really are export stories to be translated. Nevertheless, Georgian details, which characterise us, creep into them. ’

Reading Material Georgian original, English sample DIOGENE

DIOGENE

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Nana Katsiashvili

Children’s Fiction

Mr. Nosey the Champion A strange man lives in a seaside town. He has a nose with an enormous length. The man is called Murtaz. He is very kind, having a distinguished love for children. Murtaz spends a lot of time with them, even reading them some fairy tales with pleasure. In the evenings the parents have trouble taking the children home – the little ones don’t leave Murtaz’s side.

Picture Book 30 Pages

The nose causes some great discomfort for Murtaz, but it also has many positive aspects. It’s true that when Murtaz sneezes, lightweight things situated nearby fly into the air. On the other hand, when a storm approaches, he finds out beforehand thanks to an amazing sense of smell. It’s true that he always buys two tickets for municipal transit due the nose’s length, but having the position of main expert at work must be attributed precisely to an extraordinary ability to smell... Murtaz really has a hard time with being so prominent. He thinks the nose hinders him in the search for happiness. Murtaz is a good football player – he has mastery over the ball with amazing skill. He even uses the nose with great success during fencing. He has many admirers. Murtaz also receives letters from a delighted fan... The football championship is approaching in the town. One time Murtaz sees a strange dream. He finds out in the dream that he has an extraordinary admirer – a pretty and attractive confectioner who is in love with the talented footballer and will also most certainly be at the decisive match of the championship.

Nana Katsiashvili

Nana Katsiashvili was born in Tbilisi on October 15, 1969. She earned a degree in economics and then in film directing after high school. She began writing children’s stories in 1996 for a competition announced by Diogene Publishers. It was right at this time that she wrote “Mr. Nosey the Champion” and a few small short stories. She has been writing for adults since almost this time as well. Her short stories and fairy tales are printed in some Georgian periodicals: Tsiskari, Ritsa, Parnasi, Literaturuli Palitra, The Children’s Almanac, Up To Twelve Doves, and others. Her books Mr. Nosey the Champion and A Ray of Sun (a collection) have been debuted. One of her fairy tales has been included in a collection of Georgian children’s writers. She has worked for almost twenty years as an instructor and teaches computer graphics programs. She writes film scripts.

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Reading Material Georgian original, English translation, Japanese translation, Norvegian translation DIOGENE

Roused to action by an unknown admirer, Murtaz jabs at the ball with a desire increased ten-fold – he prepares for the championship with utter devotion. Murtaz plays amazingly well in the decisive match, yet his entire attention is directed towards the spectator – he is searching for the unknown confectioner. The futile expectation is reflected in Murtaz’s game as well – the guy is no longer interested in the ball or the whistling and shouting of the unsatisfied crowd. The final minutes have just started when Murtaz is roused up by the shout of a strange, pretty girl – Murtaz realizes that this is his beloved. The guy carries out some wonderful moves and makes the game-changing goal. Murtaz’s team becomes the champion. Soon the entire town is celebrating the wedding of the talented footballer and the pretty confectioner.

DIOGENE

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Georgian Literature in Translation is a program of the Georgian National Book Center designed for foreign publishing houses willing to translate and publish Georgian literature abroad. The Program might cover up to 100% of Translation and/or Printing costs. More information at www.book.gov.ge


Diogene Publishers

Foreign Rights . 9, Apakidze street- 0171 Tbilisi, Georgia Tel. +99532 2213321 . adm@diogene.ge www.diogene.ge Founded in 1995, Diogene Publishers is one of the oldest publishing houses in Georgia. Known for its literary quality, Diogene Publishers has earned a reputation for publishing award-winning Georgian authors. Translations are at the core of Diogene Publishers’ identity. Foreign Rights Zaza Shengelia International Projects Manager rights@diogene.ge

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DIOGENE


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