[Eric]

I found the following on the Gerorgian Daily website. It is dated July 11th, implying that there is life in Georgian literature, although outside of the country, virtually no one (including myself) knows a thing about it:

Best Georgian writers recognized at SABA Awards July 11, 2008

Vato Mchedlishvili, Georgia Today

On July 5, the Georgian literature awards ‘SABA 2008’ were held at TBC Bank Head Office. Authors were awarded in eight categories: Best Prose Collection, Best Novel, Best Poetry Collection, Best Translation, Best Debut, Best Piece, Best Criticism, Essayistic and Documentary Prose, and the Premium For Developing Georgian Literature.

The jury had the difficult task of deciding on eight winners out of 38 deserving nominees.

Aka Morchiladze’s “Maid in Tiflis” won the prize for Best Novel of the year, while the prize for the Best Prose Collection went to Davit Kartvelishvili’s “Four Tales.” Maia Sarishvili triumphed with her best poetical collection of the year “Microscope.”

Unexpectedly, Giorgi Lobjanidze’s “Koran” in Georgian became the best translation of the year. The best debut prize went to Bacho Kvirtia’s “Before the Train Arrives,” and the Dato Turashvili won Best Piece for his work “Black Sneakers.” The winners of the first seven categories won their share of the 36,000 GEL total prizemoney, giving each 4,000 GEL.

The prize for developing Georgian literature went to Vakhushti Kotetishvili, who walked away with 8,000 GEL for his efforts.

The SABA Awards are the most coveted in Georgian literature. They were established in 2003 by TBC Bank, television channel Rustavi 2 and the Georgian Pen Club.

Source: georgiandaily.com - Best Georgian writers recognized at SABA Awards