Bloomsday Festival in Szombathely

An excerpt from Lili Kemény's No, in a translation by Ilona Kappanyos, which looks back on memories from the author's premature childhood. The author describes the hybrid, autobiographical novel, which became a sensation in Hungary and won the 2024 Margó Prize for best debut, as "a concentrated account of twenty-five years of personal – aesthetic, ethical, political, sexual – experiences ... a bundle of energy".

“We will guarantee the free operation of the book market, initiate broad consultations with all stakeholders regarding its regulation, suspend the application of the fixed-price law, and review those laws that Fidesz-KDNP passed for their own ends, falsely using child protection as a pretext,” – announced Zoltán Tarr on Thursday in Budapest at the opening of the Festive Book Week.

The 97th Book Week was opened on Thursday, 11 June, by David Szalay, a British-Canadian writer of Hungarian descent, at Vörösmarty Square. His novel Flesh, which won the Booker Prize last year, was published in translation for Book Week under the Hungarian title Test. His speech was interpreted by the book's Hungarian translator András Barabás.

It's open call season again at HLO, and we want to read your writings and translations!

With opening remarks by Katalin Gál, president of the Hungarian Book Publishers’ Association (MKKE), a speech by Booker Prize-winning author David Szalay, and an address by Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony, the 97th Book Week opens tomorrow at Vörösmarty Square.

"This kind of postconceptualist hybrid I wrote is not native to Hungarian literature. A concentrated account of twenty-five years of personal – aesthetic, ethical, political, sexual – experiences." – Hanna Zelma Horányi interviews Lili Kemény about her Margó Prize-winning debut novel, Nem (No).

Ferenc Barnás’s new novel, Most és halála óráján (Now and at the Hour of His Death), is a tale of suffering on multiple levels. We follow Endre Torjai, the protagonist, through his physical and emotional suffering and his quest for escape. We witness how physical pain becomes a trial, then a daily routine, and eventually offering redemption from the torments of the soul. This may also explain the title. – A review by Edit Domján.

Based on Ferenc Molnár's beloved coming-of-age novel The Paul Street Boys, Krisztián Grecsó's stage adaptation, directed by László Marton, will be showing on 14 June at 14:30 and 19:00 at the Vígszínház.

This "trio of darkly elegant, women-centric novellas from a master of twentieth-century Hungarian literature" was released in April of this year by Seagull Books, in John Batki's translation.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s head of state, on May 31, 2026 – after welcoming Péter Nádas into the ranks of the Pour le Mérite Order of Science and Art during an open session – awarded the writer the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The shortlist for this year’s Esterházy Literary Prize was announced on 12 May. The seven works in the running for the prize are by Ferenc Barnás, Péter Bognár, Kinga Fancsali, Árpád Kollár, Balázs Szálinger, Zsuzsa Takács, and Krisztina Tóth.

"This is not a practical manual, but a book of essays at the crossroads of nature, culture, and thought." – The Art of Beekeeping has been published by Northern Bee Books in the United Kingdom, in Deborah Marshall's translation.

To commemorate 90 years since the birth of Hungarian poet Ottó Orbán, we share three poems on ageing, the future and man's fondness for his own manias, in George Szirtes' translation.

Tímea Tankó’s German translation of András Visky’s novel, Kitelepítés, was shortlisted for the prestigious literary award Internationaler Literaturepreis.

This spring (and early summer) has seen a host of exciting new releases for Hungarian literature, with more yet to come. This list features some of HLO's favorites from two of Hungary's most prominent publishing houses.

'Without tenderness, / I am no more / than my body's / ˈmeɪd.' – Six poems from Anna Zilahi's recent collection Gyengédség (Tenderness), translated by John Bátki and the author.

What cannot be done, however, is to assign art a specific task, because then it first becomes applied work, and second, propaganda. – Poet Anna Zilahi speaks to Borbála Szakács about deep seas and octopi performing Ligeti, apropos of her latest collection, Tenderness.

Péter Závada’s lyrics froth with political and pop culture jokes, philosophical quips, ironic self-commentary, wordplay, and allusions to Sardou’s libretto. – Diana Senechal recommends a play for the summer, A Répakirály (“The Carrot King”), directed by Balázs Kovalik.

An unsettling collection of short stories revealing hidden traumas – Krisztina Tóth's White Wolf has been published by Seagull Books in Owen Good's translation. Readers living in London will have an opportunity to see Tóth speak at the European Writers' Festival at the British Library, this Saturday, 16 May.