42%
Bakur moved into the education business, but the publishing house kept his name and today it’s a well-established brand in Georgia, known for qualit fiction, non-fiction, children’s books and textbooks. We have more than 70 employees, two sq km of warehouses, a distribu- tion system, a chain of bookshops and huge ambitions to grow.
What areas are you strongest in? What is the balance of your list? In 1998 we published six paperbacks by six contemporary Georgian authors, three of whom are our bestselling authors today: Dato Turashvili, Aka Morchiladze and Lasha Bugadze. All three are well known in Georgia today and abroad. Their books have been translated into German and some other languages. Our bestselling novel, The Flight fom the USSR by Dato Turashvili, was translated in 16 languages—quite a record! Although we have a strong list of contemporary Georgian fiction—around 20% of the
The most important outcome for us would be the spread abroad of the perception of Georgia as a country of long literary and cultural traditions
list—we translate a lot from other languages too. We usually publish around 300 titles a year, but this year we planned up to 500 titles, including reprints. We have a fine list of children’s books, both classical and contem- porary kids’ fiction, as well as non-fiction and educational titles. The jewel of our children’s list is, of course, the Harry Poter series and we are proud to be its Georgian publisher. Although some years ago it had negative feedback from the very influential Orthodox church, which affected our sales dramatically.
TheBookseller.com
How do you see Sulakauri developing over the next decade? We plan to place more stress on educational titles, try to expand into the continent, and hopefully sell coeditions worldwide. We have ambitious plans and, with an energetic team of dedicated young professionals, I think we can overcome mountains.
How will the Guest of Honour scheme affect Georgia’s industry, both in practical business terms and in terms of soft power? I am a frequent Frankfurter—I’ve visited the fair almost every year since 1999, so believe me, I can tell the difference. In my first years at the fair I was mostly concentrated on buying rights: we prepared a small rights catalogue and approached publishers from other countries, trying to atract their atention to our books... oſten in vain. Almost nobody had heard about Georgia—the only thing catching their eye was our beautiful, exotic alphabet. It’s hard to tell exactly how it will affect the overall industry, but for Sulakauri it has been very fruitful. We have sold the rights of around 40 books to German publishers, and more titles are still under consideration. Fiſteen of our authors are atending the fair, partaking in numerous events, from book launches to discussions. We have appoint- ments with editors from other countries as well, but as German publishers are known as trend- seters, we believe the sales of our rights there will increase our trading in other countries, too. Intangible effects, such as increased tourism and exports,
MORCHILADZE AKA
Of sales in Georgia in 2018 to date were generated by translated titles
will be more visible in the coming months. The most important outcome for us would be the spread abroad of the perception of Georgia as a country of long literary and cultural traditions; as a dynamic country full of creativit, innovation and energy; a tiny country which, in spite of its difficulties and troubles, is able to return to Europe, where it belongs.
Finally, which of Sulakauri’s books and authors do you think would appeal to read- ers of Te Bookseller?
LASHA BUGADZE
TURASHVILI DATO
Sulakauri has created a website (in English) to showcase its books at the Frankfurt Book Fair:
rights.sulakauri.ge
Alongside the established trio of Dato Turashvili, Aka Morchiladze and Lasha Bugadze, we try to atract the authors of the new generation. Zura Jishkariani, with his crazy cyberpunk novel Chewing Dawns: Sugar Free, was one of the most impressive newcomers in 2017. In 2016, the novel atracting much atention and admiration was The Southern Elephant by Archil Kikodze, winner of two literary prizes for the year’s best Georgian novel. A hit this year has been the semi-biographical début novel by Georgian movie director Temur Babluani. The Sun, the Moon and the Wheat Field tells of a young man in the jungles of Soviet prison camps in Siberia, and it’s been a number-one bestseller since its publication in March. We publish non-fiction too, and have two photographic guides in English: Untamed, a book about 8,000 vintages of Georgian wine, and Be My Guest, a book of culinary recipes from famous Georgians, such as George Balanchine.
Be My Guest and Untamed 10th October, 1 p.m., Hall 5.0/Booth 5.0/B100
Sulakauri at FBF
Photographic foodie titles Untamed and Be My Guest will be presented by their authors Davit Gigauri and Ana Saldadze.
20 Years with Tree Authors 11th October, 2.00 p.m., Georgian National Stand
Sulakauri will host a discussion to celebrate 20 years of working with authors Dato Turashvili, Aka Morchiladze and Lasha Bugadze.
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