New Writing

Zurab Karumidze (b. 1957), got his degree in English from Tbilisi State University; he got his PhD (in 1984) for the dissertation on the Wit and Conceit in the poetry of John Donne. He worked for years as a research associate for the Center for XX Century Literary studies at the Tbilisi State University. In 1994-95 he had a stint at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as a visiting Fulbright Scholar studying Post-Modernist American meta-fiction. Two of his short stories (English translation by the author) were published in the USA (Clockwatch Review, Bloomington, IL, 1996). He worked as an editor of the English language magazines in Tbilisi – Georgia/Caucasus Profile (1995-2000) and Caucasus Context (2002-2005). His publications include a collection of short stories – Opera (1998), and the novels --- The Wine-dark Sea (2000) and Of Goats and Men (2003, nominated for Georgia’s #1 Literary Prize SABA in 2004). He has written a novel in English – Dagny or a Love Feast (2006), first published in Georgia by Siesta Press (2011) and then in 2014 by Dalkey Archive Press in USA, UK and Ireland. The novel was longlisted for IMPAC Dublin International Literary Award in 2012. He co-edited (with James Wertsch) the book – Enough: Rose Revolution in the Republic of Georgia, 2003 (Nova Science Publishers, New York, 2005). His publications include essays on culture, postmodernism, collective memory and national narratives. His book on the history of jazz music – The Life of Jazz – came out in 2009 (Siesta) and received SABA Prize (2010). He was with the Open Society -- Georgia Foundation for more than 7 years; he was an international fellow of the Center for Humanities at the Washington University in St. Louis. His last novel – Caucasian Foxtrot [Fox(Fecund)Trot] -- featuring an American couple in Georgia in 1926 was published by the Siesta Press (2011) and shortlisted for SABA in 2012. His long short story Bashi-Achuk or Mobi-Dick depicting tortures in Georgian prison and political developments of 2012 came out in 2013 (SABA E-Books). In 2014 his novel Jazzmine was published by Azri Press; the novel is about the coming of Jazz to Georgia in mid-1950s.