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The aim of the Térey Book Festival is to present the eponym’s life’s work and to draw the attention of the citizens to the literary traditions of Debrecen.
With the support of the City of Debrecen, the Méliusz Péter Juhász Library is organising the Térey Book Festival for the fifth time between the 10th and the 14th of September, to engage in a dialogue with the work of the writer, poet and literary translator who was born in the city. The 2024 Book Festival will focus on Térey the literary translator and his works translated into foreign languages.
The choice of theme is also justified by the welcome and imminent publication in June of an exclusive Polish collection of 74 of the author’s poems, entitled Przyszłość miodu (The Future of Honey), translated by Daniel Warmuz. The occasion is a welcome to draw readers’ attention once again to Térey’s two German-language poetry collections, KaltWasserKult and Költőpárok: Térey János – Anja Utler (“Poet Couple:Térey János – Anja Utler), and the German translation of Passing Through Budapest (Budapester Überschreitungen), as well as to his rich oeuvre as a literary translator, mainly related to theatre. Our guests invited,Orsolya Kalász, Wilhelm Droste, Daniel Warmuz , are asked to give us an insight into the process how to work with János Térey, the joys and dilemmas of translation, the challenges of translating and the transfer between languages and cultures,” Tamás Korpa said.
The professional coordinator of the book celebration added that the Méliusz Juhász Péter Library, together with the Déri Museum, wouldl dedicate a chamber exhibition to the author’s work as a literary translator with also including a special focus on Térey’s iconic first translation project, a translation of Verlaine’s volume of poems entitled The Poems of Saturn. “It is an interesting coincidence that Verlaine’s volume, one of the most famous debuts in world literature, was published at the age of 22, and Térey embarked on this early great linguistic adventure at the age of 22. Moreover, this year marks 30 years since Térey published the first version of the translation and 10 years since he published the revised edition,” he pointed out. The Hungarian poet also added some fascinating translation observations to his work. He took order and commented in an understandable way on all attempts to explain one of Verlaine’s most famous poems, the Autumn Song.
The Térey legacy has preserved many documents, notes and correspondence relating to the translations, some of which are on display in the exhibition. He emphasised that it should not be forgotten that Térey was one of our most active dramatic translators, in just two decades, he re-translated plays by Brecht, Calderon, Dürrenmatt, Euripides, Plautus, Pushkin, Schiller, Sophocles, Lope de Vega.”My aim was a fresh, living text that was at the same time insistent,” he recalled Térey’s credo as a translator adding that an important progress is also being made on the author’s grandiose legacy, as on Térey’s birthday, the 14th of September, representatives of the Méliusz Library, the Déri Museum and the University of Debrecen will sign a tripartite agreement to develop a strategy for the scientific systematisation and processing of the legacy.
István Puskás said at the press conference introducing the programme that, in addition to this year’s theme, the event would provide an opportunity to talk about the city’s identity through literature. “A recent and very good news is that a few weeks ago the first Polish-language volume of János Térey’s poems, a selection, was published. The translator of the Polish volume will be our guest, so we will also have the opportunity to talk about how Térey and other Debrecen authors are present in European literature and European culture,” the Deputy Mayor said.
The declared goal of the Térey Book Festival, in addition to presenting the oeuvre of its namesake in many aspects, is to draw the citizens’ attention to the literary traditions of Debrecen every year. In keeping with this mission, we can commemorate the eponym of Alföld Journal, the late author of Nyugat Journal, poet and József Attila Prize winner Tamás Kiss, and poet and newspaper editor Ádám Niklai, who was born 100 years ago this year. The workshop with translator Sándor Tar will also be a professional curiosity.
In addition, the organisers invite the public to attend the musical performance of Zsolt Prieger and Bori Magyar, titled Kaddis for János Térey at the Csokonai Forum, the interactive Jókai exhibition at the Debrecen House of Literature, the lecture of world-famous artificial intelligence researcher Emmanuel Maggiori and the video work of media artist Anadol Refik entitled Rumi’s Dream at MODEM, the 100th anniversary of the “cellar Lyrics” (Pincelíra) at the Egri Borozó, and the exhibition on János Térey’s childhood summers in Vámospércs.
The detailed programme of the Térey Book Festival is available on the Facebook page Debrecen Literary Big Events or by clicking here.
Source:debrecen.hu
