Georgian writer, poet, and playwright Irakli Kakabadze has published more than 50 short stories since 1990 in Georgian, Russian and English publications; he’s also published five books. His celebrated play “Candidate Jokola,” which was published in 2005, is a story of love between a Georgian man and Abkhaz woman. In his country, he is also known as a political activist; he was one of the first writers in Georgia to write about drugs and violence. In 1990 Kakabadze was awarded an award by “Tsiskari” magazine for his novel Allegro, and he is presently living in Ithaca as part of the Ithaca City of Asylum Writers Project.
Kakabadze read from his work on September 4, 2008, in Cornell’s Goldwin Smith Hall. This interview took place the following day.