Georgian poet Giorgi Lobzhanidze and translator Nunu Geladze will be under the spotlight of the Xenia Book Fair in Reggio Calabria, a coastal city in southern Italy, where audience will be introduced to their work this week.

Lobzhanidze, a poet, orientalist and a professor at the Tbilisi State University, will sit down with literature enthusiasts and moderator Renata Rossi at the fair on Friday.

Locals and visitors flocking to the event will learn about the poet who has gained recognition following a publication of 4+4=∞, his collection of works, by the Giuliano Ladolfi publishing house.

While he has become known to the public in Georgia and Italy through the Tbilisi International Festival of Literature and the Genoa International Poetry Festival, as an Orientalist he is also known for having made the Quran available in the Georgian language.

Following his appearance in Reggio Calabria, Lobzhanidze will also be introduced to those attending the Poetry and Europe festival near Perugia in central Italy.

Back at the Xenia Book Fair, organisers will also bring translator Nunu Geladze to the attention of fair visitors.

Invited to take the stage the same day as her compatriot, the event involving the 2016 Ambassador of Peace of the Universum Switzerland organisation and winner of a 2006 award for promoting Italian culture will also be moderated by Renata Rossi in the city.

Geladze has worked on translations of authors ranging from Saint Francis of Assisi to Georgian poet Ana Kalandadze and Italian novelist Umberto Eco.

The Italian fair is held with the theme of Hospitality, binding together "numerous events of an editorial, musical, theatrical and artistic nature" at an open-air ampitheatre in the city.

The fifth edition of the fair is hosted between July 8-14.

source: AGENDA/ agenda.ge