2025 - Dato Turashvili
Dato (David) Turashvili (b. 1966) is a prominent Georgian novelist, screenwriter and playwright.
Before his literary debut, he led the pro-democracy student movement against the Soviet regime. Shortly after Georgia's independence, he started writing. Since then, he has written 22 works, particularly gaining international recognition with Flight from the USSR (2015) and its stage adaption Jeans generation. He is one of the leading voices on literature in Georgia, where he presents a TV show about books. In addition to being an author, Turashvili is also an avid traveller and mountain climber, having participated in expeditions to the Caucasus, Andes, and Himalayas.
During his residency in Brussels, he will be working on his new book, focusing on Georgia’s delicate relationship with Europe and how surrounding empires hindered its progress.