Beka Akhalaia (ბექა ახალაია, b.1986) is a writer and blogger who grew up in Chkhorotsku district. He graduated from the faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Sokhumi State University. He has been publishing poetry, lyric poems and short stories on online literary websites as well as in papers and magazines. He is a finalist and a winner of several literary contests. In 2017, Beka Akhalaia was awarded the Saba Prize for his debut collection of poems “To these Leaves that did their Duty”. His poems have been published in Italian and German languages. (Source: book.gov.ge)