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Attila József Prize-winning writer, Sándor Tar is one of the most significant representatives of Hungarian prose literature at the turn of the millennium, speaking with an unmistakable voice, whose primary field was undoubtedly the short story.
The author of “Leaflet” (Tájékoztató), which won first prize in the sociography competition of the “Moving World” (Mozgó Világ) magazine in 1976, his excellent debut volume, “ The 6714th Person” (1981)”, (A 6714-es személy) and then, in the mid-1990s, his more widely known “Our Street” (A mi utcánk) and “Grey Dove” (Szürke galamb), it is, however, a less well-known fact that his first fiction publication was four poems in the 1970/4 issue of the Alföld magazine.
About author of the excellent debut volume “Leaflet”” which won first prize in the 1976 sociographic competition of “Moving World” magazine, “A 6714-es személy (1981)”, and then “Our Street and “Grey Dove”, which brought him wider recognition in the mid-1990s, is a less well-known fact, however, that his first literary publication was four poems published in the 1970/4 issue of the Alföld magazine.
After that, Tar published only one poem in print during his lifetime, and after his death, only a few of his first, more successful writings were published, and he finally committed himself to (short) prose. However, his poetry manuscripts have survived: the Déri Museum in Debrecen, which looked after the author’s literary legacy after his death, has therefore undertaken to publish the collected poems of Sándor Tar as the first in its new book series, “Saving an artefact” (Leletmentés). The aim of “Saving an artefact“ is to publish unpublished manuscripts or works that are difficult to access in previous editions, in the spirit of value recovery and rediscovery. The editors of the series hope that the source-critically informed editions will prove to be an exciting and useful read for the museum’s diverse collections, and for a wider public interested in the fields of fiction, history, ethnography, literature, social history, photography, art history, archaeology, etc.
The collected poems “The Little Lights” contain approximately 90 of the currently known poems by Sándor Tar, most of which are available in the literary heritage and other sources. The volume includes, among other things, two different versions of Tar’s perhaps most important lyrical works: the long poem “The Blonde City”, written in Dresden in 1969, and the poem cycle “The Purple Smoke – Chords to the Heartbeat” (A bíbor füst – akkordok szívdobogásra). The publication also includes a book of poems entitled “Little Lights”, which Sándor Tar sent to Aliz Halda, a well-known member of the democratic opposition, in 1986. Tar’s works, who introduced himself as a lyricist, include experimental poems with subject-verbalisations on love and erotic themes, more abstract, almost philosophical poems closer to objective lyricism, direct political-public works and avant-garde free verse with a sprawling imagery. The poems, most of which were presumably written in the 1960s and 1970s, and the accompanying study and notes, may also prove to be an important source for a period of Tar’s life on which we have so far had very little information.
The collected poems of Sándor Tar “Little Lights” were published on 30 January 2025.
Source and photo credit:debrecen.hu
