Mtrebi: The Enemies Project in Tbilisi, Georgia - May 16th to 20th 2016

The Enemies project in Georgia was an ambitious collaborative program of poetry between a host of poets from Georgia and visiting poets from the UK, writing brand new collaborations during the 2nd International Tbilisi festival of literature. Following a unique workshop of poetic collaboration closely curated by Davit Gabunia and SJ Fowler, new collaborative works were presented at Writer's House in Tbilisi. For a detailed travelogue on the project visit www.stevenjfowler.com/georgia 

Featuring poets Zaza Koshkadze, Lia Liqokeli, Luke Kennard, SJ Fowler & Eley Williams. Co-curated by Davit Gabunia and SJ Fowler.

Supported by The International Literature Legacy Fund and the Tbilisi International Literature Festival.

Bios:
Zaza Koshkadze (real name Levan Tsertsvadze) was born in 1982 and graduated in Georgian folk music from the Institute of Traditional and Contemporary Art in Tbilisi. He co-founded the “Net Of Alternative Poetry”, and later “Pink Bus” with other young poets and artists. The Pink Bus anthology published in 2007. Two of his short stories were involved in the annual anthology 15 Best Georgian Stories. His book of poems Midnight Dance for Cancer nominated for best debut in 2013. The last five years has worked as a TV copywriter. In 2010 and 2012 participated in several literary workshops and festivals in Bratislava, Istanbul and Prague. In 2013 founded first genre fiction festival Insomnia to promote Fantasy, Sci-fi and horror literature in Georgia. In 2015 was a program participant at the World Science-fiction Convention in the U.S.

Luke Kennard is a poet and writer of fiction who was born in Kingston Upon Thames in 1981 and grew up in Luton. He won an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors in 2005 and his first collection of prose poems The Solex Brothers was published later that year by Stride. His second collection The Harbour Beyond the Movie was published by Salt in 2007 and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, making him the youngest writer ever to be shortlisted. His most recent collection A Lost Expression was released in 2012 alongside an experimental short story, Holophin which won the Saboteur Novella award that year. His fiction and poetry criticism has appeared in Poetry London, the Times Literary Supplement and The National. He has a PhD in English from the University of Exeter and lectures at the University of Birmingham. His work has been translated into German, Spanish and Mandarin. In 2014 he was named one of the Next Generation Poets by the Poetry Book Society in their once per-decade list. His fifth collection of poems, Cain, is due from Penned in the Margins in the summer and his first novel, The Transition, will be published by 4th Estate in 2017.

Eley Williams is a former recipient of the Christopher Tower poetry prize, and has twice been shortlisted for The White Review Short Story Prize. Her work has been published in The White Review, Ambit and Night and Day journals. She is co-editor of fiction for 3:AM Magazine, currently acts as Guest Editor for Visual Verse and works for independent publishers Copy Press. She is also a Visiting Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London.

SJ Fowler is a poet, artist, curator & vanguardist. He works in the modernist and avant garde traditions, across poetry, fiction, theatre, sonic art, visual art, installation and performance. He has published multiple collections of poetry and been commissioned by Tate Modern, the British Council, Tate Britain, Highlight Arts, Mercy, Penned in the Margins, the London Sinfonietta and he is currently in residence at Wellcome Collection with Hubbub group. He has been translated into 14 languages and performed at venues across the world, visiting festivals and events in Mexico, Argentina, Iraq, France, Germany, Serbia, Croatia, Iceland, Italy and more. He is the poetry editor of 3am magazine, teaches at Kingston University, Tate Modern and the Poetry School, and is the curator of the Enemies project.