Born in 1967, in Sukhumi is a contemporary Georgian Writer. After finishing school, he was recruited into the army and assigned to an anti-missile unit in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). After military service Gela Chkvanava returned to Sukhumi and studied philology at Sukhumi University. The armed conflict broke out in Abkhazia when he was still a student. Everything he wrote before the war was abandoned in Sukhumi and destroyed when his house was burnt down. To distract himself from the war, and to gain experience in creative writing, he began work on several stories set in peacetime. His first success was in 2002, in the Pen-Marathon literary contest organised by Diogene Publishers. Since then, Gela’s works have been published in Georgia regularly. Russian translations of Chkvanava’s short stories have appeared in the St. Petersburg literary magazines, such as Neva and Kreshchatiki. His Debut book titled Local Colours won the author one of the country’s most sought-after literary awards, SABA 2005. Gela Chkvanava has won several literary awards and is regarded as one of the best modern Georgian writers. This refugee author claims that he has two sacred words: Sukhumi and Dzidzaria (the latter being the colourful street he once lived in), the main inspiration of all of his works, that resound with his authentic and sincere literary voice.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• On Facebook, Intelekti Publishing, 2014
• The Desert of Dead Sand, Intelekti Publishing, 2014 
• Manuchar’s Big Walk, Palitra L Publishing, 2012
• So, Diogene Publishing, 2010
• Sh. From Sodgari, Diogene Publishing, 2011
• Ants, Diogene Publishing, 2011
• Unfinished Story, Diogene Publishing, 2008
• Toreadors, Diogene Publishing, 2006 
• Colours, Diogene Publishing, 2004

LITERARY PRIZES AND AWARDS

• Giorgi Shervashidze State Prize 2007 
• Literary award SABA 2005 in category the best debut for The Local Colours 
• III Place in the literary contest 2002 of the Literary Association KVALI 
• Winner of the literary contest Pen-Marathon 2002 for the short story Memento Mori