Arc-et-Senans

Natalie Abesadze/

Poétesse

Natalie Abesadze

2022

Natalie Abesadze is a poet and a teacher of Georgian literature in Tbilisi, in Georgia.

Originally from a family of singers, her father with her aunts and uncles formed an ensemble and sang folk songs. So, she was introduced to music at an early age. She can sing and play guitar and Ukulele. However, in the highland village where she grew up, there were no dance, drawing, or music courses, but she had a library and she loved literature.

She has featured authors from all over the world including French writers, such as Émile Zola, Gustave Flaubert, Jules Verne, Stendhal, Alphonse Daudet, Victor Hugo. She thinks that French literature played a big role in the work of Georgian poets, symbolists. The legendary Georgian poet Galaktion Tabidze often mentions Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine. Her favorite poet is Charles Baudelaire. His poems were translated into Georgian by the first president of independent Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia. This love of words and literature has surely influenced her choice to do the same job as her mother: she is a Georgian language teacher.

She is herself writing poems and she is going to publish them. She thinks she can be both a writer and a journalist temporarily and do creative activities like she did while volunteering in Belgium (EVS project).

Some of her literary and publishing works can be found in the newspaper "New Education" 2020-2021. She has participated in various writing contests and was, for example, finalist of Kartvelian project "Winter School" or reached the second place in the essay competition organized by the Confederation Institute of Free University, "China with My Eyes" in June 2016. And on the 27th of November 2017, she reached the second place in a public speech in the presidential library, the title of the report was "Woodrow Wilson - Savior, who was not yet known ".

 

The residence project:

Probably, it is symbolic because Georgia is still trying to become a full member of Europe. For her, as a Georgian teacher and Poet, this project will be a great experience: she will be able to share her love of literature or writing. And especially, share Georgian literature or poetry with project members. Indeed, she thinks that literature unites the world.