Name? Hungarian history. Nationality? Hungarian, he screamed, and it sounded as if hundreds of virgin cadets were swearing in. Could you say it a bit less loudly, I ask him. So he whispers like a dying person: Hungarian. Then I say, couldn’t you just say it naturally? Like, Hungarian. But that’s too difficult. To be natural. To pretend that it doesn’t hurt, that it doesn’t vex; that it isn’t annoying, isn’t too tight. Hungarian. That’s what there is. And that’s enough. Too much even. Too little.
In the final part of our interview series on Hungarian literature, history, and society, Across the 20th Century with István Margócsy, we reach the new millenium, discussing along the way: Weöres' patchwork metaphysical poetry, writers of the regime change, and with whom the last literary era really ended.
Events in September: Book Festival & PestText
A look at what's in store at Budapest's literary festivals this September.
Magda Szabó: Abigail
For the next in the Starter Pack Series, Hanna Zelma Horányi recounts the thrill of reading Magda Szabó's beloved young adult novel, Abigail, set in a girls' boarding school during wartime.
New Releases: Edina Szvoren & Krisztián Grecsó
Magvető have released new English editions by Edina Szvoren and Grecsó Krisztián. The two books, translated by Erika Mihálycsa and Peter Sherwood, are part of the publisher's new series Lives on the Border.
I Am the World – Across the 20th Century: Part IX
In Part IX of our ongoing series on the history of Hungarian literature, Across the 20th Century with István Margócsy, we explore dueling conceptions throughout the '70s and '80s regarding the role of the poet and whether story or form should take precedence in prose.
István Örkény: Pig Slaughter
"Mama brought in the tips of the pig’s ears, which were roasted to a nice red colour, and appetisingly seasoned with salt and paprika, but Gizi gave a terrified look and said: 'Let him eat it. That rabid man,'" – the last in our series featuring emerging translators, an uncommonly gory tale of love by the classically grotesque István Örkény, in Orsolya Kesztler's translation.
Applications Open for Prae Literary Translation Camp 2024
The Prae Literary Translation Camp for foreign translators of Hungarian literature is to be held once again, this year in the famous writers' residence in Szigliget.
Edina Szvoren: Mrs. Trifán, Dear
"Once I was careless and put my handbag on Mr. Drelyó’s overcoat, which doesn’t have a hanging loop. A bulge formed on the overcoat. After my son was born, I reached inside myself because I wanted to rip out my uterus: my cervix was shaped like that bulge." – We continue our series featuring emerging translators with a short story by Edina Szvoren, in Mari Klein's translation.
Tibor Weiner Sennyey: Two Poems
"There we lie, and sprouted from a tiny cell, / The Tree / In flaming calligraphy, writes into the sky / The sign of grace." – We continue our series featuring emerging translators with two poems by Tibor Weiner Sennyey, in Virág Doktor's translation.
Contradiction Under Occupation – Across the 20th Century: Part VIII
In Part VIII of our ongoing series on the history of Hungarian literature, Across the 20th Century with István Margócsy, we learn about what life was like following the '56 revolution, the contradictory undertones of the occupation, and what literary and cultural life was like in Transylvania, Serbia, Slovakia, and other regions with large Hungarian populations.
New Releases from Festive Book Week 2024
As always, Festive Book Week 2024 saw another incredible list of new books making their debut, and HLO selected 10 of its favorites to highlight for this year.
Krisztina Tóth: High Ball
We offer up a single poem by Krisztina Tóth in George Szirtes' translation, along with a reminder that Tóth's first English collection of selected poems, My Secret Life, (though not containing this currently featured poem) will be available in February 2025, also in Szirtes' translation.
Kornélia Deres: Literature and Healing
"The liberation, skill, and aestheticism, through which the dancers, helping one another, evoked unforgettable scenes about diverse rhythms of life and codes of cohabitation, gave me hope." – In our ongoing series of essays, Hungarian writer and scholar Kornélia Deres explores grief, healing, and community through the arts.
Jenő Rejtő: Dirty Fred, the Captain
What better way to continue Hanna Zelma Horányi's Starter Pack series than with the much-beloved adventures of Dirty Fred, the absurd, swashbuckling creation of an absurd, swashbuckling, man himself, Jenő Rejtő.
Translator Viacheslav Sereda Has Passed Away
Renowned Hungarian to Russian translator Viacheslav Sereda passed away in Amsterdam after a year-long battle with cancer.
An Uprising Quelled – Across the 20th Century: Part VII
In Part VII of our ongoing series on the history of Hungarian literature, Across the 20th Century with István Margócsy, we cover the 1956 revolution, the extent to which writers and the intelligentsia were active in it, and the political and literary fallout when Soviet tanks rolled in and crushed the revolution.
Ádám Rényi: Two Times Lottie in Budapest
Two strangers, a returning American-Hungarian and a Budapest-local, have a brush with fate in downtown Budapest. We continue our series featuring emerging translators with short fiction by Ádám Rényi, in Tímea Tekla Fási's translation.
Kornélia Deres: Three Poems
"Strangling and eruption. You have to understand, / this is not purely technique, / this is family history," – three poems by Hungarian poet Kornélia Deres, in Timea Sipos' translation.
Kamilla Vida: Three Poems
"As her petticoats expand, / my sight swells at once, / and she steps away from herself: her own image appears behind her. / I close my eyes on the way back." We continue our series featuring emerging translators with a selection of poetry from Kamilla Vida's 2021 collection Constructive Vote of No-Confidence, in Dorottya Cseresnyés' translation.
Petty Vendettas and Partisan Poetics – Across the 20th Century: Part VI
In part VI of our ongoing series on the history of Hungarian literature and society, Across the 20th Century with István Margócsy, we discuss the fate of writers accepted or rejected by the cultural regime of the fifties and sixties, and the enduring duality of Attila József, whose work was greatly lauded but with strict limitations, on top of rumours that he had been expelled from the party for a clandestine affair.
