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Saba Literary Competition 2013 Gets Underway

Monday, January 28
TBC Bank kicked-off the 2013 Saba literary competition. However, this year’s competition– in its 11th year– offers some new changes. The competition is now international. Foreign literature specialists and translators will now be able to participate in the competition.

The number of nominations has also increased. This year the Saba awards will be granted according to 10 nominations. A new nomination was added to the competition and is aimed at revealing and awarding the best foreign language translations of Georgian books.

The goal of the new award is to support the translation of Georgian books into foreign languages, which will make it possible for Georgian literature to reach a wider audience and receive greater recognition throughout the world.

In this nomination any Georgian (modern or classic) book translated into any foreign language will be assessed and awarded. Those Georgian or foreign translators who translate the Georgian literature will be nominated in this category.

The Saba jury consists of five members. Books published in 2012 are evaluated over a period of a few months. As for the nomination ‘The best translation of a Georgian book into foreign Language”, books of this nomination will be judged by the international jury, which will be comprised of Georgian and foreign literature specialists. The winning translator will be revealed by the five member jury according to the reviews and evaluations of the international jury.

The Saba awards were founded by TBC Bank and the Pen Center in 2003. The project’s long-time partner is Rustavi2 television. The aim of the project is to evaluate the previous year’s literature process and reveal the best books and authors of the previous year according to 10 nominations. The winning authors will be awarded the Saba prize and receive a monetary prize from TBC Bank as well.