Author Guram Odisharia’s account of Abkhazia War IDPs published in Czech

A personal account of the people fleeing the destructive 1990s war in the Georgian region of Abkhazia is now available to readers in Czech, after prized author Guram Odisharia’s story The Pass of the Refugees was presented in Prague on Monday.

The work, first published in Georgia in 1993, was unveiled at the Academia bookstore in the Czech capital on Monday, with the author present at the event to meet readers.

Translated into Czech by Libor Dvořák and printed by the Jonatan Livingston publishing house, the story details Odisharia’s experiences alongside thousands of other civilians escaping the warzone in Abkhazia in the autumn of 1993.

Author Guram Odisharia has published over a dozen literary works, including novels and poetry collections. Photo: Georgian National Book Centre.

Made homeless after the fall of the regional capital Sokhumi and other cities and towns in the north-western region, they found themselves having to cross the Kodori mountain pass to the highland province of Svaneti.

Located in Georgia’s extreme north, the dangerous route became their only escape from Abkhazian territory, with the separatist forces blocking the Kodori Bridge and highway to the Georgian-controlled territory.

Thousands of fleeing civilians had to cross mountainous paths in freezing temperatures on foot for days, setting off from the town of Sakeni to their destination in Chuberi.

The arduous escape through the frozen Kodori poss claimed victims —  including children — through frostbite and fatigue. Odisharia describes his personal experiences witnessing the hardships and some of the deaths, in his story.

Born in 1951 in Sokhumi, Odisharia graduated from the Abkhazian State University before working as reporter for the public radio broadcasting in the city and as print journalist.

Publishing his first literary work in 1969, the author has gone on to complete over a dozen novels, poetry collections and more.

Some of his most notable works include Return to Sokhumi and The President’s Cat, the latter also translated into Czech by Dvořák.

The author’s creations have also been translated into English, Italian, Russian and Abkhazian, among other languages.

His account in The Pass of the Refugees is also used by award-winning Georgian filmmaker Giorgi Ovashvili as basis for his new work-in-progress film.

Odisharia is a recipient of the Ilia Chavchavadze Prize and the State Prize of Georgia, as well as the Award of the Theatrical Society of Georgia and the ‘Golden Wing’ Prize of the International Association of Journalists.

He also served as the Minister of Culture of Georgia between 2012-2014.