The President: It is important to make the choices that we have to make so that the country does not return to a state where there will be censorship, our choices will be limited

Literary prize awarding ceremony was held today in Orbeliani Palace, which was organized by "Georgian Penn Center". The President's administration disseminates information about this.

The President of Georgia addressed the invited guests and spoke about the importance of Georgian culture and literature in the development of the state.

"It is very important that today, here, in the presidential palace, our cultural society gathered, because the "Letter" award took on a symbolic meaning, it represents one of the most important moments of the struggle for freedom.

Everyone well remembers how it was established in 2021, by the decision of the minister, how the rules of composition of the jury were changed, and because of this, how the authors and publishers withdrew the books they submitted, after which this prize failed, but now it has been restored on a free basis. This is a symbol of the fact that fighting, not giving up, not adapting always has a meaning, especially in culture and in our daily life.

We witnessed how the creative team of "Metro" left the company, which is a sign that you should never accept restrictions on your freedom and your right to express yourself. There is no society and state where there is no free culture, where there is no free expression of opinion, and it is clear that literature is one of the fields that is alive only when it is free.

We, in the life of this country, have passed through periods when there were restrictions and great censorship, but despite all this, this country and its writers managed to walk a very narrow path. It is probably largely thanks to the free years that Georgian culture survived those 70 years.

We don't have the same ordeal now, but even more important today are the choices we must make to ensure that this country does not return to a state where there is censorship, where our choices are limited, where freedom of expression is limited, and where it is limited The rights that make up a free society.

Therefore, I am happy that today we have gathered at this "Litera" award ceremony and we are celebrating free writing, free culture and the free and European future of Georgia", the President said at the "Litera" award ceremony.

The "Litera" literary prize was established by the Ministry of Culture and Monuments Protection of Georgia and the Writers' House of Georgia in 2015 and was held annually until 2021.

In 2021, according to the new decree of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth of Georgia, the selection process of the commission was changed, which caused the protest of the literary community and the prize failed - 93 of the 110 books participating in the competition were withdrawn based on the request of the authors and publishers.

However, at the end of 2021, at the initiative of the "Penn Center" and with the financial support of the "Open Society Foundation", a competition with a new name "Free Literature" was held, the information says.