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Winners of the 16th annual literature competition Saba to be announced at Frankfurt Book Fair

By Mariam Chanishvili
Friday, February 9
TBC Bank has launched the annual literary competition “Saba”.Works can already be submitted by authors and publishers.

Visitors of this year’s international book fair in Frankfurt will be the first to find out the winners of 16th Georgia’s annual Saba Literary Prize.

Georgia will hold the status of honorable guest country in 2018 at the Frankfurt International Book Fair. Throughout the year, hundreds of events are planned in order to promote Georgian literature and culture in various cities of Germany. The main part of the program is planned on October 9-14.

One of the most outstanding events of the Georgian program will feature the award ceremony of Saba Literary Prize, which will take place in the historic hall of the Frankfurt City Hall on October 12.

Famous writers, foreign publishers, German officials and international media will attend the ceremony along with Georgian authors and publishers. The ceremony will hold the broadcast live.

This year’s Saba awards will honor winners in 10 categories: Novel of the Year, Prose Collection of the Year, Poetry Collection of the Year, Essay and Documentary Prose of the Year, Debut of the Year, Georgian Translation of Foreign Work of the Year, Foreign Translation of Georgian Work of the Year, Foreign Review of Georgian Literature of the Year, Foreign Publisher of Georgian Literature of the Year and Award for Contribution to Georgian-German Literary Relations.

The jury panel changes every year and includes previously awarded Saba Literary Prize winners. The award was established in 2003 by TBC Bank and the PEn Center with a goal to honor the best of the previous year’s literature.

Any original literary work published as a novel, prose, poetry, or a play, Georgian translation of foreign literature, documental prose and literary criticism is considered for the award, along with the best literary debut, best foreign translation into Georgian, best electronic book, and an award for outstanding contribution to literature.