Me, Margarita

Ana Kordzaia was born in Tbilisi in 1968. She published her debut in 2003, for which she was awarded the SABA Best Debut prize. She works as a critic and literary translator of German into Georgian and in 1999 was awarded the Goethe Institute prize for Best Translation.

The Georgian Margarita is becoming one of the strongest female literary figures for years. And she is, in her uncomplicated, open way, more emancipated than any feminist construct... As is thematised in one short story with the rather suitable title 'Waiting for the Barbarians,' one of Margarita's most terrible experiences is the gradual disappearance of Georgian culture as it is replaced by European and Russian standards... This thematisation makes the book an unmatched achievement that simultaneously fascinates and alienates. What does cynicism taste like? And what colour is disillusion? Me, Margarita is powder blue and tastes refreshingly bittersweet. -- Emil Fadel octopus-magazin [A] delightfully frank collection of stories... In almost every one of these discursive stories, the wit and self-awareness of the narrator hints at the difficulties they've endured without a lick of self-pity. With great skill, Kordzaia-Samadashvili brings readers into the kitchens, bedrooms, and hearts of these coarse, forthright women. Publishers Weekly