FEKETEMUNKA - A CONVERSATION WITH LÁSZLÓ LÖVÉTEI LÁZÁR, ATTILA JÓZSEF AND BAUMGARTEN MEMORIAL PRIZE WINNING POET

On Tuesday, April 25, at 7 pm, in the Studio of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, the theatre's director, Gábor Tompa, will engage in conversation with poet László Lövétei Lázár, Attila József Prize and Baumgarten Memorial Prize recipient, who has recently been awarded the Hungarian Laurel Wreath. 

The title of the event is a reflection on the poet's latest volume, Feketemunka (Illegal Employment), published by Kalligram in 2021. Lövétei says: "The early to mid-1990s. The heyday. Illegal workers in almost every corner of Hungary. The early days of the black market. I owed this book to myself and to my relatives - but the question was just as exciting: would I be able to get enough blood (emotion?, soul?) into these bone-dry reportages to make them move and start behaving like poetry?"

László Lövétei Lázár (Lövéte, 2 February 1972): poet, literary translator, editor. He graduated from the Tamási Áron High School in Odorheiu Secuiesc in 1990 and in 1998 he earned a BA in languages (Hungarian-Romanian) at the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca. From 1998 to 2019 he was the editor of the Székelyföld cultural magazine from Miercurea-Ciuc. He lives in Sândominic.

His most important poetry volumes are: A névadás öröme [The Joy of Giving a Name] (Erdélyi Híradó, Cluj, 19970; Távolságtartás [Keeping the Distance] (Pro-Print, Miercurea-Ciuc, 2000); Két szék között [Between Two Chairs] (Kalligram, Bratislava, 2005); Zöld [Green] (Erdélyi Híradó, Cluj, 2011); Alkalmi [Casual] (Sétatér, Cluj, 2016); Miféle harag [What Kind of Anger] (Előretolt Helyőrség Íróakadémia, Budapest, 2019); Feketemunka [Illegal Employment] (Kalligram, Budapest, 2021).

Translated books: Mircea Cărtărescu: Lulu (novel, Gondolat, Budapest, 2004); Filip Florian – Matei Florian: Kölyök utca [Kid Street] (novel, Bookart, Miercurea-Ciuc, 2014); Alexandru Vakulovski: Hányinger utca [Vomiting Street] (novel, Sétatér, Cluj, 2015); Doina Ioanid: Ideje, hogy fülbevalót hordj és más poémák [Time to Wear Earrings and Other Poems] (prose verse, Lector, Târgu Mures, 2019); Gheorghe Crăciun – Ioan Groșan – Mircea Nedelciu: Román triptichon [Romanian triptych] (short stories, Lector, Târgu Mures, 2021).

Tickets for the discussion are 10 lei and can be purchased at the theatre's box office (weekdays between 10 am and 2 pm) or online at www.biletmaster.ro.