On a Timer: Preparing Georgia for the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair

The countdown is on for Medea Metreveli and her team at the Georgian National Book Center. On October 10, 2018, the Frankfurt Book Fair will open – and the Guest of Honor will be Georgia. As head of the Georgian National Book Center (GNBC), Medea Metreveli is the key person in preparing Georgia for the big event and although she appears calm, she admits: “I'm a little bit nervous.”

To be Guest of Honor is a great opportunity for Georgian literature, and the Frankfurt Book Fair is already the most important event for publishers worldwide. But it's a chance not only for literature. “This is a unique platform for Georgia to present itself,” says Metreveli. “The focus of the media and the audience will be on Georgia as a whole.”

The country will have the possibility to promote its cultural heritage, its tourism offers and even its potential for economic investments. Therefore, the GNBC is not organizing this huge event alone, as representatives of the ministries of Economy, Agriculture and Foreign Affairs are also involved.

The event in Frankfurt is so important that even now, two years ahead of time, it is already impacting on Georgia's image. In February 2014 the then-minister of culture Guram Odisharia, a writer himself, signed the agreement with the Frankfurt Book Fair. At the time Georgia was still terra incognita. “The foreign publishers asked for our catalogues only because they liked the exotic Georgian alphabet,” says Tina Mamulashvili, co-owner of Bakur Sulakauri- the largest independent publishing house in Georgia, which has been present at the Frankfurt Book Fair for years already.

But this has now changed and the days are gone when foreign publishers didn't even know where Georgia was. “Now they have a real interest in our literature when they visit our stand,” Mamulashvili says. One reason is the media trips to Georgia which the GNBC organizes and finances especially for foreign journalists and publishers every year. These journeys are popular – and interesting not only for the Book Center. Publications about Georgian literature and culture are also a good promotion of the country itself. That's why, from 2017, the National Tourism Administration is to participate in organizing such trips.

Despite the growing interest in Georgia, one problem remains: the lack of good literary translators. “There aren't many good translators for Georgian,” Mamulashvili confirms. In the best case, the person translates from Georgian into his native language, for example into German, meaning it should be a foreigner who learned Georgian or a Georgian who has lived abroad at least since his childhood. There aren't so many people with this profile – and, additionally, with experience in translating.

Medea Metreveli is fully aware of this problem: “We’ve been holding workshops for translators for a few years now.” In cooperation with the Goethe Institute from Germany, the Embassy of the United Kingdom and other institutions, they trained about 30 translators– the last took place at the end of November in Germany where eight translators participated in a five-day workshop.

That's why Metreveli is optimistic about reaching her goal: to have 150 Georgian books available in German edition when the Frankfurt Book Fair 2018 kicks off. To get there, the GNBC is supporting the translations financially – with a growing budget every year. “We have enough money for our activities and especially for the Frankfurt Book Fair,” she affirms.

Some critics might say the Georgian government rushed into being Guest of Honor in Frankfurt, 2018 – that it is too early because there aren't enough translations published yet. But it's not only about literature; the event has a positive effect on promoting the country – tourism and culture will benefit from it, and maybe even the economy through attracting foreign investments. The best is yet to come!

Lukas Mäder