Seeking Peace across the Georgian-Abkhazian Conflict: Writers from Opposing Sides

Guram Odisharia, a former Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia (2012-2014) and award-winning author, will provide a background on the history of Georgia-Abkhazia, with a focus with the Georgian-Abkhaszian War in the early 1990s. 

That war had long-reaching consequences, including his own experiences as an internally discplaced person (IDP) residing in Tblilisi. Odisharia spent the following decades trying to create and preserve dialogue across this divide. The most recent product of those efforts is the 2024 book Two Novels from the Caucasus. The book captures the divide through the two stories contained within: Guram Odisharia's "The President's Cat" and Daur Nachkebia's "The Shore of the Night." 

Written from opposing sides in the conflict, the book employs literature as a bridge between two sides of a conflict dividing a once united country. Odisharia will talk about lessons from the book for this conflict, and conflicts in the wider Caucasus region. 

Please note: the book will be for sale at the event.