Zoltán Böszörményi

Far from Nothing

Zoltán Böszörményi’s first novel is definitely a good read. Somewhat in the style of a diary “Far from Nothing” tells the story of a young man, or just enough of it, in the judgment of the author… By the expert use of all the tools of literature Böszörményi is capable of saying a lot with a few words. Wordiness is not one of the tricks of his trade, which may sound like a contradiction, considering we’re dealing with prose and not poetry. And yet he can tell, indicate, bring to life, situations and personalities, everything he needs in order to develop his theme.

Interviews

“I’ve Gone a Full Circle!”

What prompts a poet to turn to prose, namely a novel? I did not start out a poet. At the age of seventeen I contributed short stories to a children’s magazine, “Napsugár”, in Kolozsvár. Tibor Bálint and Sándor Fodor, two noted writers and editors of the time encouraged me and helped me get into print. And yet poetry became my favorite form of expression. Thus I switched my allegiance to Aladár Lászloffy who said, pointing at Tibor Bálint bent over his typewriter: you see, writing prose involves a lot more work than poetry. And he approved of my choice.

Interviews

The Multimillionaire from Arad

He started out studying ballet in Transylvania, he arrived in Canada with $25 in his pocket, and presently he’s a multimillionaire business man living in Monaco. After the Eastern-European regime changes he went on to increase his wealth in Romania. A few years ago he decided to become the patron of Hungarian literature. And in the meantime he also wrote his first novel.

Interviews

Coming back Home to Literature

“It reads like a novel,” one could easily say about Zoltán Böszörményi’s life story. The author started out in Transylvania, went through the basement torture chambers of the feared Securitate (Romanian Secret Police), and then emigrated overseas. Returning to his native land much later he established a daily paper for the smaller Hungarian communities scattered over five counties of Romania (in an area that had lacked such service) in addition to a Hungarian literary journal with the largest circulation anywhere in the world.