Zviad Ratiani
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January 5, 1971
Zviad Ratiani | |
|---|---|
| Born | Zviad Ratiani January 5, 1971 Tbilisi, Georgia |
| Occupation | Poet, Translator |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Literary movement | Modernism |
| Notable works | Only You are Allowed, 2015 |
| Children | Nina, Lexo |
Zviad Ratiani (IPA: [zviad ɾatʼiani]; Georgian: ზვიად რატიანი; born 5 January 1971, in Tbilisi) is a Georgian poet[1] and translator.
Zviad Ratiani was born in 1971 in Tbilisi, Georgia.[2] He has been contributing to the Georgian literary printed media since 1992. As of 2015[update],[when?] he has published five poetry collections and simultaneously has intensively worked on translations of English and German poetry.
Among numerous translations Zviad Ratiani has introduced to Georgian readers are poetic works by T.S. Eliot, E. Pound, R. Frost, M. Rilke, and Paul Celan; for the last one, Ratiani received the Goethe Institute Prize for the best translation of the year.
Ratiani's poems have been translated into English, German, French, Russian, Azerbaijani, Ukrainian, Latvian, and other languages. His poetry has been published in several anthologies among them: Ich aber will dem Kaukasos zu...[3] - Pop Verlag 2015, Germany; Aus der Ferne (Neue Georgische Lyrik),[4] Corvinus Presse 2016, Germany.
Ratiani has been the recipient of numerous literary awards.
On 29 November 2024, during the 2024 Georgian post-election protests, Ratiani was dragged through the street, taken into a police car and repeatedly beaten during both the dragging and in the car.[1] After his release, he was attacked close to his home by unidentified individuals.[5]
On June 23, 2025, Ratiani was again arrested during a pro-democracy protest.[6][7][8][5] Various international organizations, including the PEN Centre Georgia and the PEN Centre Germany expressed their alarm over the renewed detention in June 2025. PEN Germany stated that it is "very concerned about Ratiani's physical and mental well-being, also in view of the serious abuse he suffered during his last arrest."[9]
Works
Books
- Only You are Allowed, Diogene Publishing, 2015
- The Negative, Diogene Publishing, 2009
- The Roads and the Days, Arete Publishing, 2005
- The Pocket Air, Bakur Sulakauri Publishing, 2000
- The Whisper Tutorial, Lomisi Publishing House, 1994
- Invent Me, Lomisi Publishing House, 1993
Translations
- T.S. Eliot - The Waste Land, Tbilisi, Intlekti Publishing House, 2013, ISBN 978-9941446863
