Beka Adamashvili becomes First Georgian Writer to Win EU Literary Prize

14 emerging authors from across Europe have been awarded at the 2019 European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), including Georgian Beka Adamashvili, who became the first writer from Georgia to win the EU Literary Prize.

The President of European Publishers awarded him in Brussels on October 2.

He received the honorary award for the book titled Everybody Dies in the Novel, written in 2018.

“Great sense of humor and deep knowledge of world literature combined with marketing and advertising skills makes Adamashvili’s prose hilarious and entertaining. He very often uses allusions from classic literature and sometimes even shifts the famous characters into his work,” reads the official page of European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL).

The EUPL is an award that recognizes outstanding new and emerging literary talents across Europe and highlights the wealth of contemporary European literature.

Representatives from 14 countries participated in the contest in 2019 – Australia, Finland, France, Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Poland, Greece, Slovakia, Great Britain and Ukraine.

Georgia and Ukraine participated in this contest for the first time this year.

Beka Adamashvili is a young writer, journalist, comedian and blogger. In 2013, he participated in the literary contest for students 'Legend of the Fall' and his short story 'XXVIII: Full Stop' took the first prize. In 2014, he published his debut book ‘Bestseller’, which is a satirical fiction genre. The novel was shortlisted as the best novel for literary award SABA and Tsinandali Award.

By Ana Dumbadze