On the 28th of February 2025, we hosted the book launch of György Gömöri's latest book, 'My Multilingual Life - An Autobiography up to 1990'. On this occasion, the author was in conversation with Botond Zákonyi.
You can read an excerpt of the conversation below and watch the interview on our Youtube channel.
Botond Zákonyi: Dear Gyuri. Last year you published your autobiography. In February this year, you received a prestigious Polish literary award, and in just over a month, on the 3rd of April, you will celebrate your 91st birthday. What are you working on in the meantime?
György Gömöri: In general, I work in two directions. More precisely, since I am a polonist - meaning that I deal with Polish matters - that’s one of them, and the other is Hungarian literature, and the history of Hungarian literature, in both of which I feel I'm still active.
At the moment, my Hungarian subject is going to be a very interesting text about Oxford students who travelled to Hungary in 1956, during and after the revolution. There were three such delegations, and I knew a member of the second and third delegations, whom I interviewed many years ago in the journal ‘Európai Utas’. I am now writing about this in English, though I don't know where it will be published yet.
The other topic is related to Grácia Kerényi, who was an excellent translator of Polish literature. And at the end of April, we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of her birth. I have annotated one of her letters to me from Warsaw. This is a very long letter with many references, including János Pilinszky, who was in Poland at the time. It's a very interesting piece from a literary historical perspective, and I already know where I want to publish it, in the magazine ‘Kortárs,’ though they don't know that yet. So, I am still active.
B.Z.: Thank you very much.