International Authors' Stage: Nino Haratischwili (GE)

With her monumental novels, Nino Haratischwili has distinguished herself as one of the most significant literary voices of her generation, and her writing provides a unique insight into the history of Europe and Russia throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

Historical perspectives in literature

In her novels, Haratischwili has illustrated life in the former Eastern Europe and depicted the great upheavals that have shaped world history: the Russian Revolution, Stalin's regime, World War II and the Cold War. She masters combining personal stories with historical events, thereby creating a literary bridge between past and present.
With her breakthrough novel The Eighth Life (For Brilka), she has created an epic work that has been acclaimed across Europe. The novel, which received several prestigious awards and was nominated for The International Booker Prize 2020, depicts the fate of a family in the shadow of Russia’s turbulent history. Her latest novel, The Lack of Light (2023), continues her exploration of cultural heritage, national trauma, and the revolutions that have shaped our time.

An evening of great stories

The conversation with Nino Haratischwili will focus on the period after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when the civil war in Georgia left deep traces in the region. On stage, she will talk about her books, their creation and the extensive historical research behind them. How does one create an epic family chronicle that spans an entire century? How does one convey the great upheavals of history through fiction?

This evening offers a rare insight into Europe's recent history and the consequences the past still has for the present. Haratischwili manages to weave historical events together with personal accounts, and her writing is an important source for understanding the complex conditions in the former Soviet Union.
As The Economist wrote: An unforgettable love letter from Georgia and the Caucasus, to life as it is and must be lived, and to literature itself.

Participants

Nino Haratischwili

Nino Haratischwili is an award-winning author, playwright and director. She is born and raised in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, where she attended German school, and she now lives in Hamburg. She had her big breakthrough with the novel The Eighth Life (For Brilka), which was named the best of the year by the German magazine Der Spiegel.