Paata Shamugia is one of Georgia’s most acclaimed contemporary poets and literary voices. Born in Abkhazia in 1983, he has received the SABA Georgian National Literature Prize twice and served as president of PEN International Georgia from 2018 to 2022. He first gained national attention with his debut poem Panther’s Skin, a provocative reimagining of Georgia’s medieval epic The Knight in the Panther’s Skin, which sparked controversy when several members of parliament called for it to be banned, arguing it…