Salome Benidze (Georgia)

Salome Benidze (სანემ ბერიძე) was born in 1985 in Kutaisi. She studied journalism in Tbilisi, political science in Vilnius and public relations at the Alexander Technical University of Thessaloniki. She is the author of two poetry collections: მოტორიინიიი ბარიალი (Explanatory Note, 2011, SABA Literary Prize for the Best Debut of the Year) and სამი უზენიართა (Story of the Sleepless, 2013). The collection of short stories, სამალი სქართე (City on Water, 2015), became a national bestseller and won the Tsinandali Literary Prize. Together with photographer Dina Oganova, she created the documentary book, sHEROes, which tells the stories of women who experienced the Russian aggression and war in 2008 (2018, winner of the LITERA Prize). She wrote a libretto for the Delft Chamber Music Festival (Netherlands) for the musical monodrama Maro (2023) about the hero of the Georgian independence struggle, Maro Makashvili. She has translated works by Milorad Pavić, Salman