This year marks the sixth edition of the literature-promotion initiative by Libri Bookstores and Jelenkor Publishing – this time, selected poems by András Visky are being published in a free-to-access volume for students, with ten thousand copies available.
As a dedicated supporter of culture, Libri considers promoting reading and supporting contemporary literature to be one of its main responsibilities. Libri’s goal is to bring the works of domestic authors—who have significantly contributed to Hungary’s intellectual and cultural heritage—to as wide an audience as possible. In recent years, Libri has provided around fifty thousand gift copies to students with the aim of making contemporary authors better known and more popular among young readers.
After the works of Miklós Mészöly, Ágnes Nemes Nagy, Péter Nádas, Szilárd Borbély, and János Térey, this year young readers can explore the poetic works of András Visky, the Transylvanian Hungarian writer, playwright, and dramaturg, recipient of the József Attila and Kossuth Prizes. Vissza a nyomokon will be available from June 12 at the Libri Bookstores’ stand during the Book Festival and nationwide in Libri stores. To receive a copy of the anthology, all that is required is a student ID.
András Visky was born in 1957 in Târgu Mureș. During the Ceaușescu dictatorship, he and his family were deported to the Bărăgan Plain in Romania for political reasons—a childhood experience that is reflected in several of his works. His novel Kitelepítés has been among the most widely read literary works in recent years, receiving the Margó Prize in 2023 and the Libri Literary Award in 2024 for the most popular literary work abroad of the year. His stage plays are performed by both domestic and international theatre companies, and he currently serves as the chief dramaturg at the Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj.
His first poetry collection, Partraszállás, was published in 1984. The newly released anthology highlights the most iconic pieces of his oeuvre, ranging from early poems that showcase diverse and inventive formal approaches to later works that transform individual and communal experiences, personal events, and biblical stories into linguistic events.
The words of András Visky himself serve best as an introduction to the volume. The author shares his thoughts on why it is important for today’s youth to engage with contemporary Hungarian literature and what poetry can offer them in today’s world.
“Contemporary works speak to us with a unique force; we are not merely consumers of books, but—by reading them—take part in a shared creation. A beautiful conversation about who we are. Good literature convinces us that, from the moment of our birth, we accepted an invitation that called us into the world. Our existence is not the result of a random interplay; we are all part of a vast composition. Let us add our own freedom—no one can act it out for us. Contemporary literature teaches us to rejoice. To rejoice in who we are.”
For more information, please visit: https://www.libri.hu/vissza-a-nyomokon
