A BRIEF PRESENTATION OF THE PUBLISHING HOUSE SZÉPHALOM

The publisher exists since 1989. It was created first of all to issue contemporary literature but we have also published books on sociography, publicism, history, history of civilisation, philosophy or children's books. We have so far published about 300 titles, our range of authors represents almost all trends and age-groups of Hungarian contemporary belles-lettres. We also dedicate our attention to the works of young authors and to the present generation of writers and translators.

From 1989 on we publish A magyar irodalom évkönyve [The Annual of Hungarian Literature], the characteristic and important volume of the publisher. This volume enumerates Hungarian literary events, institutions, list of writers within and beyond the border of Hungary. The data are yearly checked and published updated.

The great enterprise of Széphalom, issueing the so far unpublished manuscripts of Nándor Várkonyi, belongs to the domain of culture of civilisation and philosophy. So far there have been 8 volumes of his life-work handed over to our readers. The first of these was the book titled Elveszett Paradicsom [The Lost Paradise] (1994), which is a polemical essay about questions of rationalist-materialist philosophy. The book Az ötödik ember I-III. [The Fifth Man] (1995-97) consists of 1506 printed pages, and it aims to map the history of ideas of mankind, it attempts to detect spiritual crossroads and deadlocks of modern times. Apart from this, we published Várkonyi Emlékkönyv [The Várkonyi Album] (1993), in which among others László Németh, Miklós Mészöly, Gyõzõ Csorba, László Bertók, the best Hungarian writers had written about their memories about the man they had known as an "autonomous spiritual institution". We continued the publishing of his so far unedited or censored manuscripts by issueing two volumes of Varázstudomány I-II. [Witchcraft]. In 2001 we published Az írás és a nyomtatás története. [The History of Writing and Printing].

In 1994 we took over the publishing of the life-work series of Anna Jókai. Since then we have issued 7 volumes of the Kossuth-Prize winner author (Vörös és vörös) [Red and Red], 1994; Három [Three], 1995; A feladat - Mindhalálig [The Duty - Until We Die], 1996; Az együttlét - A töve és a gallya [Being Together - The Stock and the Twig], 1997; Ne féljetek [Don't Be Afraid], 1998). All of these belong to the events of contemporary Hungarian literature. For the Book festival in 1998 we published the successful novel Ne féljetek [Don't Be Afraid]. The novel had a great success; in 2 years it was printed again 12 times and 12000 copies were sold. The writer was granted the Prize Novel of the Year 1998. For the Book Festival in 1999 the second edition of the famous novel of Anna Jókai Szegény Sudár Anna [Poor Anna Sudár] was published. Two novels in one volume followed: 4447 - Tartozik és követel [4447 - Credits and Debts] (1989), and the great novel Napok [Days].

László Krasznahorkai

belongs to the middle-generation of writers. He achieved a significant position among novelists already in the middle of the eighties. We have been publishing his books since 1992 (Az urgai fogoly [The Prisoner of Urga], 1992; A Theseus-általános [The Theseus-General], 1993; Sátántangó [Satan's Tango] - second edition, 1993). For the Book Festival in 1999 we published the second edition of his famous novel Az ellenállás melankóliája [The Melancholy of Resistance], which was chosen the best novel in foreign-language literature in Germany in 1993. In the winter of 2001 the publishing house Széphalom is going to publish a collection of Hungarian and German criticism of the works of László Krasznahorkai.

The series of Magyar Napló Könyvek was devoted to significant works of contemporary foreign poets and writers. The series has already 13 volumes. This is in a way a common enterprise with the periodical review Magyar Napló, ad the review also presents these literary authors and their works.

Our series Aranyhal [Goldfish] - launched in 1995 - is going to be published in the 11th volume of Magyar Napló Könyvek, which presents collected works of contemporary Hungarian literary historians and essayists like Miklós Béládi, Zoltán Bertha, Lívia Mohás, Imre Monostori, Péter Vasadi.

For the Bookfair in Frankfurt in 1999 we published an anthology of contemporary Hungarian poetry in English translated by Nicholas Kolumban, the American poet - who was born in Hungary. It has a preface written by Anna Dropick [The Science of In-Between], a professor of the University of Princeton. The poems in the anthology had already been published before in important American reviews. We have published a similar anthology in French.

The novel of Anna Jókai The Light for the World was translated to German for the Bookfair in Frankfurt in 1999 by Martha Szépfalusi-Wanner and published as a pre-edition. The publisher Széphalom carries promising negotiations about the first edition of the book with German publishers.

Anna JókaiDas Licht für die Welt - Fürchtet euch nicht [The Light for the World - Don't Be Afraid] (Ne féljetek) (Novel translated by Martha Szépfalusi-Wanner, published by Széphalom Könyvmûhely, Budapest, 1999.)

It is a novel about getting old and die. At the same time it scopes the life of the four main characters. Although it takes place in the actual present, also the background of personal fates comes alive: the Horthy-era in Hungary between the two World Wars, the personal cult of the 50s, the period of the soft dictatorship. Then the hopes and disappointments of the change of the regime until 1997. It is the story of two women (a stewardess and a social worker) and two men (a psychiatrist and a lawyer) and also a story of the children, grandchildren and the great-grandparents. What is special about the novel is that not all of the 4 people know each other, although they relate to each other with strong bonds. The couples look for the old unlucky love. Their consciousness separates them from the daily reality. The exciting, not conventional story has an original form, which is required by its theme: the novel is a mystery play-like projection of the psycho-spiritual level. The general order of the action itself is hardly a background tone, it is hardly counterpointed.

The novel can be read in many ways: it is a medicine against death, perhaps a recommended way to initiation but at the same time a help to live worthy and die worthy. It is the story of a big unappeasable love: it is a time-novel and a description of an illness of the world in the turning of the millennium.

It is an exciting book, a decisive expression of opinion about the important experience: the quality of our lives relates to our death. But not pessimistically written: here flashes the light of death.

Nándor VárkonyiWitchcraft I-II. (Varázstudomány)

Várkonyi's book, which remained in manuscripts elaborates a topic which from the beginning has been a contradictory one; culture seen from East to West: it's the world of spiritual appearances, still undiscovered because it is not repeated regularly, thus it cannot be materialised. In spite of this, it exists, proved by human experience again and again.

The thinking base-position of Várkonyi is also here original. He cannot accept that things that are difficult to understand and control - or things that cannot be repeated or examined in an empirical, experimental ways and methods - could be denied in the name of being scientific. Science is only correct, thinks Várkonyi, and can expect acknowledgement for its objectivity, it sets the limits of its knowledge and doesn't want to deny - just to pretend to be omnipotent and to be of universal validity - what by its methods and ways cannot be explained and examined. The scientist, who is really devoted to reality and not to his own profession, may not turn his eyes from the reality of spiritual appearances and capacities, or he would become one of those swindlers who disguise their ignorance by appearing initiated and take advantage of human helplessness and credulity and by claiming to be the owners of a knowledge they had never had.

Thus, Várkonyi's book touches again a delicate topic. With this book, in which he is trying to make a clear picture about real spiritual appearances and their misuse, Várkonyi may draw upon himself the anger of the scientists of materialism, the representatives of esoterism, of secret sciences.

The book contains lots of mythological and historical material to present the topic and employs a comprehensive philological arsenal.

Kolumban Nicholas: The Science of In-Between - An Anthology of Nineteen Contemporary Hungarian Poets (Box Turtle Press, New York - Széphalom, Budapest, 1999)

The anthology of the 19 Hungarian contemporary poets - from György Faludy, Sándor Csoóri, Sándor Kányádi, György Gömöri, Elemér Horváth, György Petri, Vince Sulyok to Zsuzsa Takács, Zsuzsa Kapecz, Gáspár Nagy, János Oláh - is a representative collection by the translator Nicholas Kolumban. All the poems in this book had already been published before in American reviews. The notes (written by the translator) present the Hungarian authors of the anthology. The concise introduction about the history and literature of Hungary was written by Anna Dropick, professor of the University of Princeton in New Jersey.

Anna Jókai: Poor Anna Sudár (novel - Collected Works of Anna Jókai-series)

The novel, written like a diary, is about the everyday-life of a woman in Transsylvania, about loving children and grandchildren and about how dictatorship invades even the most hidden corner of life.

Nándor VárkonyiThe Fifth Man I-III. (Cultural history with an epilogue by Katalin Mezey, László Vanyó and László Tõkéczki, and with a register of names)

Nándor Várkonyi, the significant cultural historian, philosopher and literary historian treats in his comprehensive work the ideas and great figures of Christian antiquity, Middle Ages, Renaissance, baroque and enlightenment until the turning of the century.

 

BOOKS OF THE PUBLISHING HOUSE SZÉPHALOM

 

1998-2002

 

1998

The Annual of Hungarian Literature 1997

     Ed. Attila Buda, 320 p., 920 Ft

Ádám BisztrayThe Rose-garden Soup

     Short stories, 135 p., 580 Ft

Daniel BoulangerA Dangerous Favour

French short stories translated by young translators, 240 p., 690 Ft

László BratkaOnce Upon a Time

     Poetry and prose, 160 p., 620 Ft

Mihály HoppálFolklore and Community

     Text analyses, 260 p., 870 Ft

Béla JávorszkyOn the Land of Boats Sawn in Two

     Notes about Baltic lands, 140 p., 580 Ft

Anna JókaiDon't Be Afraid

     Novel, 341 p., 1900 Ft, paperback 1500 Ft     (Novel of the Year 1998)

Menyhért LakatosThe Secret

     Short stories, 120 p., 640 Ft

Adam MiczkiewiczBooks of the Polish People and the Polish Pilgrimage

Translated by Gábor Kazinczy, also in French and Polish

With a prologue by István D. Molnár and an epilogue by István Kovács

230 p., 1800 Ft

Lívia MohásThe Dancer, the Politician and the Woman

Essay, 240 p., 780 Ft (Book of the Year 1998)

Yves NamurThe Book of Seven Gates

Poems (Magyar Napló Könyvek) translated by János Lackfi and György Timár

Arto PaasilinnaThe Howling Miller

Novel translated by Béla Jávorszky (Magyar Napló Könyvek)

186 p., 730 Ft

Endre RózsaThe Dreams of the Amuck Runner

     Poems bequeathed, 144 p., 590 Ft

Ágoston Szauer A Small Book of the Novel

     Short novel, 120 p., 590 Ft

József TornaiEverything that Blooms

     New poems, 140 p., 670 Ft

Göran TunströmLetter of the Plains

Novel translated by Béla Jávorszky (Magyar Napló Könyvek)

175 p., 730 Ft

Nándor VárkonyiWitchcraft, I.

536 p., 3300 Ft

Béla ViharBetween the Straps

Selected poems with an epilogue by Ágnes Gergely, 680 Ft

 

1999

The Annual of Hungarian Literature 1998

Edited by Attila Buda, 380 p., 1200 Ft

Zsuzsa AlbertPost from the Present

New poems, 106 p., 680 Ft

Franco Cajani: Meditation in the Wind

Cycle in Hungarian an in Italian, translated from Italian by Ferenc Baranyi

170 p., 980 Ft

Lord of the Songs - An Anthology of Contemporary Australian Poets

Translated and notes by István Turczi and Judith Raphael Bukrich

164 p., 1200 Ft

Béla FehérWalking the Dog

Drama and radio plays; a common edition with Magyar Napló

140 p., 780 Ft

R. Peter HolmIn Backlight

Poems, translated from Norwegian by Vince Sulyok, 101 p., 580 Ft

Anna JókaiThe Light for the World - Don't Be Afraid

Novel, 9th unchanged edition, 342 p., 1800 Ft

Anna JókaiPoor Anna Sudár

Novel - Anna Jókai Life-Work Series 336 p., 1980 Ft

The Miklós Jósika Album

     (Miklós Jósika Life-Work Series) edited by Mihály Szajbély -

in Hungarian Flemish and French, 288 p., 1800 Ft

Jaan KaplinskiThe Naked Maple Trees

     Poems translated from Estonian by Béla Jávorszky, 101 p., 680 Ft

Csaba Kiss Gy.The Temptation of Freedom. Political Lessons

     272 p., 980 Ft

Nicholas KolumbanThe Science of In-Between - An Anthology of Contemporary Hungarian Lyrics

(Common edition with Box Turtle Press in New York), 254 p., 1500 Ft

László KrasznahorkaiThe Melancholy of Resistance

     2nd edition, 384 p., 1500 Ft

Menyhért LakatosYou Told the Future from the Palm

     Poems, 66 p., 790 Ft

Maurice MaeterlinckPelléas and Mélisande

     Dramas translated from French by Miklós Bárdos and János Lackfi

     250 p., 1100 Ft

Stefánia MándyScintilla

Poems, 170 p., 890 Ft

Gábor MargittaiThe Clay-Boat

     Essays, a common edition with Magyar Napló, 150 p., 730 Ft

Katalin MezeyPaul Whoareyou in the Land of Doesn'texist

     2nd edition of a tale-novel, a common edition with Új KÉZirat,

with 26 coloured illustration by Viola Berki, 112 p., 1790 Ft

Katalin MezeyPaule Werbistedenn im Lande Gehtjanicht

     Tale-novel, a common edition with Új KÉZirat, translated from Hungarian by Skirecki,

26 coloured illustration by Viola Berki, 112 p., 1790 Ft

Gábor NagyLélekvesztõ

     Poems, a common edition with Magyar Napló, 104 p., 680 Ft

János OláhAn Unexpected Meeting - Váratlan találkozás

     Poems in English and Hungarian translated by Nicholas Kolumban, 64 p., 53 Ft

Pál PékThe Expulsion of the Lamb

     New poems, 140 p., 700 Ft

Sándor RestárStudies of Movement

Poems, 130 p., 530 Ft

Géza RöhrigNight

New poems, 240 p., 890 Ft

Eszter SzakácsAnother Place, Another Time

New poems, 101 p., 630 Ft

Lajos SzakolczayQualms of our Age

     Essays, studies, criticism, 390 p., 1500 Ft

Ferenc Szempci MolnárHungarian Chronicle Song from the 18th century,

from the period of the seven-years-war

with studies by Mihály Zichy, József Zachar and Márton Szilágyi, and with facsimile pictures

1500 Ft

Nándor VárkonyiThe Fifth Man I-III-

     With an epilogue by Katalin Mezey, László Vanyó and László Tõkéczki

     1458 p., 6400 Ft

Vilmos VassA Brief History of the Hungarian Democratic Labour Movement

     160 p., 880 Ft

Liliane WoutersThe Pilgrimage of Blood

     Poems, translated from French by Krisztina Tóth, László Ferenczi and János Lackfi

     192 p., 690 Ft

 

2000

The Annual of Hungarian Literature, 1999

     Edited by Attila Buda, 380 p, 1400 Ft

Zsuzsa AlbertPost from the Present

     New poems, 680 Ft

István ÁghLike the poem in us

     Essays and studies A/5, 452 p., 1600 Ft

Corrado CalabroSender Unknown

     Poems in Italian and in Hungarian, A/5, 112 p., 1100 Ft

Mrs Jámbor, Tünde BalogOn the Stairs of Medard

     Short stories, A/5, 168 p., 880 Ft

Anna Jókai4447 - Credits and Debts

     Two novels, life-work series, B/5, 382 p., 2200 Ft

Miklós JósikaLetters from Brussels

     A/5, 150 p., 1800 Ft

Márton KalászThe Rose Painter

     Poems, 140 p., 890 Ft

Ryszard KapuscinskyEbony

     Report essays from Africa, A/5, 312 p., 1500 Ft

Benedek Kiss - Katalin Mezey - József UtassyStrange World

     Poems for children, illustrated by Krisztina Rényi, 104 p., 980 Ft

     Book of the Year 2000

Miklós KolumbánFlares on Water

     Poems in English and in Hungarian, A/5, 142 p., 980 Ft

László KrasznahorkaiTango de Satan

     A novel in French, A/5, 288 p., 2800 Ft

Balázs LengyelThe Silver Groat

     A novel for young people, A/5, 296 p., 1390 Ft

Vilmos MolnárAbout the Salary of the Reader

     Short stories, A/5, 156 p., 880 Ft

Menyhért LakatosSmoky Pictures

     4th edition, 456 p., 1690 Ft

Rhapsody of Refugees (Polish People in Hungary 1939-1945)

     B/5, 632 p., 3500 Ft

Béla PomogátsVariations on the Avantgarde

     Studies, essays (Aranyhal-series), 250 p., 1100 Ft

Géza RöhrigIsland

     New poems, 152 p., 980 Ft

Gyula RugásiFresco from the 20th century. Studies on Gyõzõ Határ

     140 p., 830 Ft

Drifting Mankind

     Essays on Nándor Várkonyi's The Fifth Man, 172 p., 980 Ft

István SzathmáriKurds in the City

     Short stories, 180 p., 980 Ft, Book of theYear 2000

Lajos SzigetiThe Rolling Sea of Light

     New poems, 84 p., 600 Ft

Sándor TatayThe Book of my Surprises - The Time of Loafing About

     Two biographical novels (Sándor Tatay life-work series, 1st volume)

     380 p., 1690 Ft

Göran TunströmMoonflame

     Novel translated by Béla Jávorszky, 230 p., 1390 Ft

Francisca Van VlotenA Cruelly Beautiful Heritage (The Story of the Góth Artist Family)

     An album of fine arts and a monography, translated by Judit Gera

     162 p., 3500 Ft

Nándor VárkonyiWitchcraft, II.

     538 p., 3500 Ft

 

 

2001

The Annual of Hungarian Literature, 2000

     A/5, coloured, paperback, 400 p., 1590 Ft

G.L. DurlacherThe Drowning Man

     Novel, B/6, paperback, 120 p., 980 Ft

Ö. Szabolcs BarlayFlower on the Ruins

     History of art, 2nd edition, 392 p., 1500 Ft

László BratkaCloudy

     Short stories, 80 p., 790 Ft

Sándor CsoóriShavings on the Floor

     Essays, A/5, 350 p., 1500 Ft

Eszter ForraiCloud-burst

New poems, 56 p., 590 Ft

Anna FöldesThe Book of the Irodalmi Ujság

     Monography, A/5, 380 p., + 4 A/3 newspaper sheets

Lorenza FrancoMeghatározatlan - Indefinito

     Poems in Italian and in Hungarian, 112 p., 980 Ft

Ingibjörg HaraldsdóttirRain in Rejkyavík

     Poems, 112 p., 980 Ft

Anna JókaiDays

     Novel B/5, hardback, 3950 Ft

Endre MiklóssyBeyond the Tower Built from Dust by the Wind

     Hungarian thinkers from the 20th century: portrays of

L. Fülep, B. Hamvas, S. Karácsony, K. Kerényi, L. Szabó, N. Várkonyi)

A/5, 410 p., 2500 Ft

Márió PappFine, Thanks

     New poems, 138 p., B/6 890 Ft

Roma Kincses Kalendárium, 2001

     In Hungarian and in Gypsy language, A/5, 400 p., 2500 Ft

Pál SalamonThe Wedding

     Novel, A/5 224 p., 1800 Ft

Iván SzabóWalls of Glass

     Autobiographical novel, A/5, 400 p., 2500 Ft

János Szávai Alain Lance (ed.): Nouvelle poésie hongroise 1970-2000

     Hungarian poetry in French - a common edition with the Éditions Caractéres)

     Paperback, 155 FF

Ernõ SzentiWashing Time

     New poems, A/5, 120 p., 850 Ft

János SzentmártoniHere, on the Paper

     New poems, A/5, 112 p., 890 Ft

Tomas Tranströmer117 Poems

     Selected poems, A/5, 200 p., 1190 Ft

Nándor VárkonyiThe History of Writing and the Book

     Culture of civilisation, 450 p., 3500 Ft

Sándor CsoóriSilent Agoraphobia

     Coloured, hardback, 220 p., 1800 Ft

Balázs LengyelWho Meets Himself?

     Essays in history of literature, 265 p., 1800 Ft, paperback

Léna SzilárdAndrej Belij and the Poetics of the Russian Symbolist Novel

     History of literature, 280 p., 1900 Ft, paperback

 

2002

Tibor Keresztury (ed.): The Hungarian and German Reception of László Krasznahorkai's Works

     Translated by József Grudl, 240 p., paperback

László BárdosSelf-Knowledge and Initiation (A Monography of Anna Jókai)

     Monography, F/5, 218 p., 1800 Ft, hardback

Sándor RestárBorrowed Humility

     Collected poems, 260 p., 1600 Ft, paperback

Tomas TranströmerMemories Can See

     Translated from Swedish by Ferenc Mervel, 80 p., 1000 Ft, hardback

Anthology of 20th Century Danish Poets

     Translated by Vince Sulyok, 250 p., 1600 Ft, paperback

Eszter SzakácsDream Talk

     New Poems, 74 p., 1100 Ft, paperback

Vince SulyokYou Live in Your Yesterday

     Poems, 118 p., 1100 Ft, paperback

József RigóIn the Closure of the Heartbeat

     Poems, 198 p., 1400 Ft, paperback

Nicholas KolumbanThe Intricate Adventures of an Alien

     Novel, 258 p., 1800 Ft, paperback

Anna JókaiThe Tongue of the Balance - I. Part

     Studies, 312 p., 2500 Ft, hardback

Tünde Balog, Mrs. JámborMy Calendar

     Special articles of ethnographical inspiration, with drawings of the author,

268 p., 1600 Ft, hardback

Mihály BalázsovicsLetters from the Hill-side

An autobiographical novel, 250 p., 1600 Ft, paperback

Péter VasadiThe Water-Scent of the Revolt

Poems, 110 p., 1300 Ft, paperback

The Annual of Hungarian Literature 2001,

     Edited by Judit Baranyai and Katalin Mezey, 400 p., paperback

Nándor VárkonyiColumns of Siriat

     Uncensored, illustrated, black-and-white complete edition,

     676 p., 4900 Ft, hardback

Judith HerzbergThings

     Poems, translated by Judit Gera, 100 p., 1300 Ft, hardback

Carl FriedmanTwo Full Suitcases

     Novel, translated by Miklós Fenyves, 152 p., 1500 Ft, hardback

János CsontosXL

     Poems, 402 p., 1800 Ft, hardback

Anna JókaiThe Stock and the Branch

     Essays (3rd edition), B/5, 126 p., 1500 Ft, hardback

 

Books to be published

Jarkko LaineThe Poem I Always Wanted to Write

     Poems, translated by Béla Jávorszky, Lajos Szopori Nagy, János Banos, József Tornai, István Turczi

Lars GustafssonNear the Inconceivable

     Short stories, translated by Ferenc Mervel, F/5, 140 p., 1600 Ft, hardback

The Gene - (The New Ways of Gene Research)

     Studies, edited by Egon Hídvégi, A/5, 330 p., 2800 Ft, hardback

Sándor KarácsonyAwaking Hungarians

     Socio-psychological studies, B/5, 440 p., 3900 Ft, hardback

Dezsõ Hildebrand VárkonyiBlaise Pascal

     Studies, A/5, 340 p., 2800 Ft

 

Mezey Katalin