For the second time of this year, the Liszt Institute and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest celebrated the Day of Romanian and Hungarian Culture with a joint event. Twelve literary works and ten authors were presented at the headquarters of the two cultural institutes between 17 and 18 January 2024, as part of the event, entitled Narrative Threads 2.0. The event also included the opening of an illustration exhibition by Rebeka Hatházi at the Romanian National Museum of Literature.
The Literary Festival 2024 started on 17 January with a round table discussion entitled Romanian Writers in Hungarian at the Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest. Four Romanian authors who have published books in Hungarian in recent years - Gabriela Adameșteanu, Simona-Grazia Dima, Daniel Bănulescu and Stejărel Olaru - took part in the event. The discussion was moderated by Dana Ionescu, Director of the Book Centre of the Romanian Cultural Institute. Afterwards, the literary translator George Volceanov presented the autobiographical family novel Trei femei, cu mine patru (Three women, four with me) by the Hungarian-born Romanian writer Hanna Bota, published in 2023. Then came Gábor T. Szántó's novel Keleti pályaudvar, Terminus, published in Romanian in 2023, translated by Francisko Kocsis. The discussion was moderated by Péter Demény, writer and editor. Afterwards, Vince Fekete, poet, editor and translator, presented his poetry collection Vargaváros, which was also translated into Romanian by Francisko Kocsis. The author was interviewed by Evelin Márton, writer and editor, who was also the professional coordinator of the event.
On 18 January, the Liszt Institute in Bucharest hosted the launch of Imre Balázs József's poetry collection, Nights in Music, which was praised by writer and poet Horia Gârbea. The evening then continued with the presentation of the novels The Story of a Stuttering and Where His Soul Is. In the last part of the programme, writer Péter Demény discussed the Hungarian translation of Andrei Dósa's novel Ierbar with the author. The books were presented in two languages, and the passages read by the authors were projected in Romanian and Hungarian for the audience. The volumes presented were available for purchase at the stand of Cartea Românească Publishing House.
The exhibition of book illustrations by Rebeka Hatházi, entitled Tunnel in the Pupils, was also opened during the event. The illustrations were created for the Hungarian translation of Ilarie Voronca's Ulysses. The exhibition was opened by Ioan Critescu, Director of the Romanian National Museum of Literature, László András Kósa, Director of the Liszt Institute in Bucharest and Attila Weinberger, Vice President of the Romanian Cultural Institute. The exhibition will be on display at the Romanian National Museum of Literature in Bucharest until 27 January 2024.
