Otar Chiladze

Otar Chiladze studied at Tbilisi State University. The recorded working language is Georgian. Shota Rustaveli, Vazha-Pshavela and James Joyce are recorded as an influence. Works named in the authority record are A Man Was Going Down the Road, Everyone That Findeth Me and The Iron Theatre. Distinctions recorded are Order of Honour, Shota Rustaveli State Prize, State Prize of Georgia and Ilia Chavchavadze Award.

• Native Name — ოთარ ჭილაძე • Name — Otar Chiladze • Born — 20 March 1933 • Birthplace — Sighnaghi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union • Died — 1 October 2009 • Place of death — Tbilisi, Georgia • Occupation — Writer, novelist, poet • Language — Georgian • Genre — Historical fiction, Poetry, Philosophical fiction • Subject — History, Bible • Movement — Magic realism, Postmodernism • Notable Works — A Man Was Going Down the Road Everyone That Findeth Me The Iron Theatre Avelum • Relatives — Tamaz Chiladze (brother)

Chiladze was born in Sighnaghi, a town in Kakheti, the easternmost province of then-Soviet Georgia. He graduated from the Tbilisi State University with a degree in journalism in 1956. His works, primary poetry, first appeared in the 1950s. At the same time, Chiladze engaged in literary journalism, working for leading magazines in Tbilisi. He gained popularity with his series of lengthy, atmospheric novels, such as A Man Was Going Down the Road (1972–3), Everyone That Findeth Me (1976), Avelum (1995), and others. He was a chief editor of the literary magazine Mnatobi since 1997. Chiladze also published several collections of poems and plays. He was awarded the Shota Rustaveli Prize in 1983 and the State Prize of Georgia in 1993. Chiladze died after a long illness in October 2009 and was buried at the Mtatsminda Pantheon in Tbilisi, where some of the most prominent writers, artists, scholars, and national heroes of Georgia are buried. His elder brother Tamaz Chiladze was also a writer.

• A Man Was Going Down the Road — Merani Publishing, 1973; Arete Publishing, 2007 • Everyone That Findeth Me — Soviet Georgia Publishing, 1975; Arete Publishing, 2007 • The Iron Theatre — Merani Publishing, 1981; Arete Publishing, 2007 • The March Rooster — Merani Publishing, 1987; Arete Publishing, 2007 • Avelum — Merani Publishing, 1995 • The Basket — Rustavi 2 Print, 2003; Arete Publishing, 2006

• Happy Martyr — Logos Press Publishing, 2003 • Eternity Ahead — Intelekti Publishing, 2009 • The Cloud — Intelekti Publishing, 2014 • The Sky Starts on Earth — Intelekti Publishing, 2010

• Tsete’s Red Boots — Pegasi Publishing, 2007 • Labyrinth — 1990

• Trains and Passengers — Soviet Writer Publishing, 1959 • Clay Tablets — Soviet Georgia Publishing, 1963 • The Child Humored the Guests — Merani Publishing, 1968 • Nine Long Poems — Soviet Georgia Publishing, 1969 • The Other Side of Heart — Soviet Georgia Publishing, 1974 • Remember Life — Soviet Georgia Publishing, 1984; Pegasi Publishing, 2010 • Poems — Merani Publishing, 1987 • The Stairs — Sani Publishing, 2003 • 100 Poems — Intelekti Publishing, 2009 • Poetry Collection — Pegasi Publishing, 2010 • The Sun in December — Merani Publishing, 1999