On November 28, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) hosted an Awards Evening, where the winners of student literary competition Autumn Legend were revealed. Rector of TSU, Giorgi Sharvashidze; Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Alexander Tevzadze; Head of Corporate Communications at Geocell, Lika Metreveli; students and invited guests attended the event. Khatia Iatashvili, student of Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film State University, won the first place. Students of Tbilisi State University and Georgian American University, Alexander Kalmakhelidze and Mariam Chumburidze, respectively, won the second and third places. The prize money and special awards from the company Geocell, namely Apple mobile phones, were distributed among the three winners. Thus, the winner of the first place received GEL 1000; the winners of the second and third places received GEL 700 and GEL 500, respectively.
The victory came as a surprise to the first place winner, Khatia Iatashvili, who participated in the literary competition for the first time. “Initially, when I sent my story to participate in a selection round, I hoped to appear among the top ten contestants, but I would not even think about victory. We were offered a topic “The Autobiography of Somebody Else” and I wrote a story of a woman,” Khatia Iatashvili said.
Maka Ldokonen, a jury member, said that during nine years the competition has revealed a lot of interesting young authors. “That our competition gives an impetus is confirmed by the fact that these students continue writing, publishing their works, as well as participating and winning various literary competitions,” she said.
Autumn Legend is a joint project of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and the company Geocell and it was held for the ninth time already. It aims at discovering talented young people and paving their ways for future success. Students from various higher educational institutions accredited in Georgia were eligible to participate. The literary competition was held in two rounds. The jury selected 10 finalists out of 427 contestants participating in the first round. The finalists were given 12 hours to create new works during the improvisation round. The jury consisted of five members: writers Dato Turashvili, Teona Dolenjashvili, Maka Ldokonen, Archil Kikodze and last year’s winner, Beka Beradze. The jury offered the contestants to create new stories on a topic “The Autobiography of Somebody Else.”
Rector of TSU, Giorgi Sharvashidze said that the Tbilisi State University is holding Autumn Legend for the ninth time and number of contestants is increasing from year to year. “It should be noted that number and quality of the works created by young people is increasing as well. It is a very good initiative and I hope that many similar competitions will be held in future,” he said.
“Each year, Autumn Legend is becoming more fruitful and successful. It is one of the students’ favorite projects. We have discovered a number of interesting student writers who have paved their ways successfully. Geocell will also award an online marathon winner,” Lika Metreveli, head of Corporate Communications at Geocell, said.
An online marathon winner was also revealed during the awards evening. The company Geocell awarded Nino Modebadze with Marshall Action speaker. Along with the main competition, all those willing to participate in the competition could join an online literary marathon. With the help of Geocell’s special application, registered contestants created their works on the same topic offered to the finalists. About 300 contestants participated in the online marathon.
The stories created by the finalists and the online marathon winner were published in a special collection and presented to guests as gifts.
