{{Infobox book| <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> | name = Avelum (A Survey of the Current Press and a Few Love Affairs) | image = Avelum book cover.png | title_orig = აველუმი | translator = Donald Rayfield | author = Otar Chiladze | cover_artist = | country = Georgia | language = Georgian | series = | genre = Magic realism, philosophical fiction | publisher = Garnett Press | release_date = 1995. 16th 2013 in English. | media_type = Print (hardback & paperback) | pages = 348 pages | isbn = 9780956468314 }}
'''''Avelum''''', Otar Chiladze's fifth novel, is the second to be translated into English.
== Plot == The introductory chapter of the novel explores the moral and ethical dilemmas of contemporary life. Its chronotope, Tbilisi in 1989, is deeply symbolic, representing a historical threshold between two epochs: the Soviet past and the emergence of Georgia’s national independence movement. The protagonist, Avelum, is a Georgian writer from the latter half of the twentieth century. According to the author, the name “Avelum” is of Sumerian origin and signifies “a free and full-fledged citizen.” Within the narrative, Avelum functions as a reflective observer who contemplates events and human archetypes in what the author metaphorically calls the “prison of nations,” referring to the Soviet Empire.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sakhuria |first=Maka |title=Thoughts on Otar Chiladze's “Avelum” |url=https://mastsavlebeli.ge/?p=42560 |website=Mastsavlebeli.ge |date=20 March 2025 |language=ka}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=“Avelum” |url=https://kejeradze.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/avelum/ |website=Kejeradze’s Blog |language=Georgian |date=8 June 2015 |access-date=11 November 2025}}</ref>
== Translations == The Russian translation of Avelum (Авелум) was rejected by every publisher in Moscow, even though Chiladze’s other novels had been bestsellers in Russia. The novel was published in English by Garnet Press in 2013 and has since been translated into several languages, including German.<ref>{{cite web |title=Avelum: A Survey of the Current Press and a Few Love Affairs |url=https://www.amazon.com/Avelum-Survey-Current-Press-Affairs/dp/0956468314 |website=Amazon |date=1 June 2013 |access-date=11 November 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Otar Chiladze's ''Avelum'' translated into German |url=https://imedinews.ge/ge/kultura/77068/otar-chiladzis-avelumi-germanulad-itargmna |website=Imedi News |language=Georgian |date=11 September 2018 |access-date=11 November 2025}}</ref>
== References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Avelum}} Category:1995 novels Category:20th-century Georgian novels Category:Novels by Otar Chiladze Category:Georgian magical realism novels Category:Philosophical novels