Ushangi Rizhinashvili ——

The Man in the Glass House

Author of several collections of poems and stories. The book HOME tells about our contemporaries. The destinies of people, their life paths, even those not marked by outstanding events, appear in U. Rizhinashvili’s book as full of intense meaning, and sometimes hidden drama.

Read the poems

«Дом»: повести и рассказы. Moscow: Sovetsky Pisatel, 1981; second edition 1984.

Cover of the book «Дом» by Ushangi Rizhinashvili

Published in ——

«Знамя» · «Литературная Грузия» · «Молодая гвардия» · Soviet Literature · «Новый Журнал» · «Слово\Word» · «Чайка»

Ushangi Rizhinashvili speaking at a microphone beside the Georgian and American flags

At a glance ——

Poet, prose writer, translator

✓   Znamya magazine prize, 1982, for the novella «Шакро»

✓   Prize of the VTsSPS and the USSR Writers' Union for «Дом» and «Шакро»

✓   Books published in Kharkov, Tbilisi, Moscow and Jerusalem

The books ——

Poetry and prose, from 1964 to today

He began as a poet in Kharkov in the 1960s, turned to prose in Tbilisi in the 1970s and 1980s, and returned to poetry in the United States. Six books mark the way.

Ushangi Rizhinashvili reading his poems from a book

1964

Три солнца

The first book of poems. Prapor, Kharkov.

1987

Мартвисская осень

Novellas and stories, opening with the prize-winning «Шакро».

1978

Зрение

Poems, the long poem «Франсуа Вийон» and stories.

1987

Пришло мое время…

A book of poems. Sovetsky Pisatel, Moscow.

1981

Дом

Novellas and stories; second edition 1984.

2008

Годы & города

Poems of different years. Filobiblon, Jerusalem.

Full list of books

Critics ——

What critics wrote about his books

”

«Стихи и проза грузинского писателя Ушанги Рижинашвили, пишущего по-русски, полнятся внутренней энергией. Его отношение к миру темпераментно, страстно, приподнято.»

Татьяна Бек · «Литературное обозрение», 1989

”

«У. Рижинашвили многогранен. Впервые выступив со стихами …, он совершенно определенно пришел к прозе как автор и как переводчик.»

Роман Миминошвили · «Русские писатели в Грузии», 1983

”

«Рижинашвили чуток к замкнутым сферам. … Квеври, колодец, стены дома, стены двора, стены кухни.»

Лев Аннинский · «Дружба народов», 1984, № 2

”

«В повестях У. Рижинашвили причудливо переплетены современность и история.»

В. Новиков · «Новый мир», 1983, № 12

Portrait of Ushangi Rizhinashvili

About author ——

Ushangi Rizhinashvili

Poet, prose writer, translator

Born in Kutaisi in 1940, he graduated from Kharkov State University, earned his degree in philosophy in Moscow and worked in Tbilisi as a writer, translator and editor-in-chief of the Merani publishing house. His novella «Шакро» won the Znamya magazine prize for 1982. He lives in Los Angeles and continues to write poetry.

Full biography

13

Books, 1964–2008

5

Novels translated from Georgian

2

Literary prizes in 1982

60+

Years of writing

Life in brief ——

Kutaisi, Kharkov, Tbilisi, Moscow, Los Angeles

Contact

Where was he born and educated?

Born on 22 June 1940 in Kutaisi, Georgia. Graduated from Kharkov State University in 1964 and completed postgraduate studies at the Institute of Philosophy in Moscow in 1970.

What did he write?

Poetry and prose in Russian. First poems printed in 1957, first book in 1964. The novella «Шакро» won the Znamya magazine prize for 1982 and appeared in English in Soviet Literature in 1984.

What did he translate and publish?

Novels by Grigol Chikovani, Guram Panjikidze, Tamaz Bibiluri and Revaz Japaridze, from Georgian into Russian. He served as editor-in-chief of the Merani publishing house in Tbilisi.

Where does he live now?

In Los Angeles. His collected poems, «Годы & города», came out in Jerusalem in 2008, and new poems appear in «Слово\Word», «Новый Журнал» and «Чайка».