Norwegian authors to attend book fair and translators seminar in Tbilisi

Norway is this year’s country in focus at the Tbilisi International Book Fair in Georgia!

A seminar for Georgian students of Norwegian as well as Georgian translators will be held Wednesday May 24. Organizing the seminar are TSUs Centre of Scandinavian studies and NORLA. Approximately 40 participants will take part, including four translators from Baku in Azerbaijan.
The main organizer of the seminar is translator Tamara Kvizhinadze, who is also NORLA’s Translator of the Month in May. If you happen to read Norwegian, you will enjoy our interview with her here.

All four authors in NORLA’s authors’ programme “New Voices” will speak at the seminar:
Roskva Koritzinsky: “The short story in Norwegian contemporary literature”
Nils Henrik Smith: “Dag Solstad and the Norwegian”
Sigbjørn Mostue: “Back to the roots – the revival of popular beliefs in Norwegian fantasy literature”.
Simen Ekern: “The battle for the soul of Europe: The growth and the future of right wing populism”.

The seminar participants will work in groups discussing the translation of the four authors’ texts.
After the seminar the participants are invited to a reception along with Georgian publishers and contacts, hosted by Norwegian embassies in Tbilisi and Baku.

Thursday May 25 sees the opening of the Tbilisi International Book Fair where Norway is focus country.
The four Norwegian authors will take part in several events. Simen Ekern will meet Lasha Bugadze to discuss politics and literature: «Are the politicians afraid of writers?». Nils Henrik Smith will meet Dato Turashvili to talk about football: «Literary goals». Roskva Koritzinsky will meet Salome Benidze to talk about identity and language: «The Road: Words and humans». Sigbjørn Mostue will meet Zaza Koshadze to talk about the choice of genres: «Why fantasy?».

On Friday May 26, NORLA will take part in a debate about being Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Georgia is Guest of Honour in Frankfurt in 2018.
All Norwegian participants will be presenting short talks about their oevre and about Norwegian literature at a book fair event Friday night.

Read more about both the four “New Voices”-authors here.

More about the international book fair in Tbilisi here.

Follow the Tbilisi book fair on Facebook.

Read more about the TSUs Centre of Scandinavian studies here.

Are you curious to see which Norwegian books have recently been published in Georgia?
Here you may enjoy the covers of books published in Georgian through NORLA’s translation subsidy (as of 2011) .

Upcoming activities

October 9-October 11

New York, USA

Norwegian author program at the 200th anniversary of Norwegian emigration to the USA

NORLA is collaborating with the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York on several literary events in connection with the arrival of the ship Restauration in New York on October 9. The vessel set sail from Stavanger on July 4 and is scheduled to arrive in New York on October 9 – retracing the exact journey of the first Norwegian emigrant ship that departed on the same dates in 1825. Upon arrival, a large public celebration is planned at the pier, with 2,000–3,000 guests expected from 10:00–14:00.

HRH Crown Prince Haakon, together with the voyage’s patron Liv Ullmann, will welcome the ship, and a variety of cultural events will take place at the harbor. NORLA will host a stand highlighting Norwegian literature. Mari Kanstad Johnsen will hold a children’s reading session on board the ship Wavertree, while moderator Anderson Tepper will lead a conversation with Lars Mytting, Edy Poppy, and Jon Fosse’s translator Damion Searls at the beautiful McNally Jackson Seaport bookstore, located at Pier 16.

Thor Gotaas will give a talk on Norwegian immigration and Ørkenen Sur during a ferry trip on the East River with HRH Crown Prince Haakon and invited guests.

October 10

The Fosse Prize 2026 – NORLA Invites Endorsements

We welcome endorsements that meet the criteria below, with a brief justification (maximum 1 page), by Friday October 10, 2025, 12:00 (CET):

• The prize will be awarded to a translator who has made a particularly significant contribution to translating Norwegian literature and/or drama into another language (directly from Norwegian), with emphasis on their entire body of work.
• The promotion of literature and culture beyond translation can also be considered.

October 15-October 19

Frankfurt, Germany

NORLA at Frankfurter Buchmesse

NORLA will be present at this year’s Frankfurter Buchmesse. You are invited to come by and visit us at the Nordic common stand at Hall 4.1, stand B17.
We are very much looking forward to meeting contacts both old and new!

Please contact us should you like to book an appointment.