With the publication of the first volume of Hungarian writer Miklós Szentkuthy’s Prae coming up in December 2014 by Contra Mundum Press you can read an excerpt from the work that publisher Rainer Hanshe writes in an essay had Szentkuthy called a “monster” upon its initial publication in 1934 and which “essentially inaugurated the Hungarian […]
Throughout August, Literalab asked writers, translators and publishers to comment on both the women writers from their own language they most appreciate having been translated into English as well as those they would most like to see make the leap. Ágnes Orzóy is the editor of Hungarian Literature Online and editor-at-large at Asymptote. She has […]
The Missing Slate has a host of Central European fare just out. Their story of the week is “How We Killed The Sailor” by Alma Lazarevska, translated from the Bosnian by Celia Hawkesworth. It comes from Lazarevska’s collection Death in the Museum of Modern Art recently published by Istros Books, a book of short stories […]
For the second year running Hungarian László Krasznahorkai has won the Best Translated Book Award for fiction. His novel Seiobo There Below, translated by Ottilie Mulzet, was the winner after he won the 2013 prize for Sátántangó in a translation by George Szirtes. Krasznahorkai came by his publisher New Directions’ offices and gave a short […]
“Zsolt Láng experienced a strong allergic reaction to 100% of contemporary Hungarian authors. When any of the papers asked him to write on such and such, he would invariably turn the request down. Last time, however, he agreed to review the latest book of Zsolt Láng, for reasons only known to himself.” From “Cat’s Caramel” […]
During the Second World War Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti was subject to forced labor because he was Jewish and was called up three times. The final time came on May 20, 1944, when he was sent to a German labor camp in Bor, Serbia, where he worked in the copper mines. On May 19, the […]
In Granta’s ongoing Best Untranslated Writers series author of the fantastic East of the West (reviewed on Literalab here) Miroslav Penkov chooses to feature “The Brave Words of Petar Delchev.” Delchev has been a sailor in the Black Sea and more recently been “restoring ruined village houses” and “managing a tailoring factory” all the while […]
“Blood pounded in my temple, and my sweat turned cold. With nowhere else to go, I pressed my entire body against the fence, so hard that the chain links would leave their impression on my back. I couldn’t kill the bird. Our eyes locked, and we stared each other down. As I gazed into the […]
Book World Prague roundup Prague’s book fair just came and went and though I missed seeing a lot of the bigger names and featured events I was left with one strong impression that seems highly significant for Central European literature and the region as a whole. It is that Central Europe is fucked – no […]
