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By Lindsay Nash
Lindsay Nash is an American writer and marketing specialist living in Debrecen. Email her at lindsaynash@yahoo.com.
I can’t say with certainty whether it was the moment I stepped, astounded, into the stunning turquoise library of the Reformed College or the day I finished reading The Door by Magda Szabó that I came to the happy realisation that Debrecen, my new city, was indeed a literary bastion.
Debrecen does not advertise itself as such. You are more likely to see the city under its proud banner of “Calvinist Rome” and this is understandable, for its history is steeped in Calvinism theology and faith across hundreds of years. Just walk into the postcard perfect Great Church in the city centre or take a tour of the storied Reformed College just behind it, and you’ll learn about Debrecen’s religious past.
Its literary pall came to me slowly, like autumn’s thick fog over the puszta’s freshly plowed fields. It does not boast; it is not loud. But the city’s literary distinction is undoubtedly here, waiting to be discovered, waiting for you to dig in.
As an avid reader and writer, I always turn to books to teach me about a place, and I especially seek out fiction, which has the remarkable power to plop you into someone’s shoes and send you walking through their place and time with an entirely new lens, allowing you to see something—or somewhere—you never previously could have envisioned. And, in this way, I discovered Magda Szabó, arguably Hungary’s most prolific and well-known writer (and definitely most translated), who—to my great surprise—hailed from this very city of Debrecen.
As I read her novel The Door, I began to look around at this city differently, eyebrows raised in surprise and newfound interest through her depictions of Hungarian life. There was something here. Something different. Something special. I was completely spellbound by Emerence, her protagonist’s stubborn and difficult maid. I loved Szabó’s layered depictions of Hungarian life. Of difficult women. Of difficult times. Magda Szabó had the incredible and envious talent to transform despair into an elegant and elegiac art form.
After I finished The Door, I read Szabó’s other novels that have been translated into English: Katalin Street, Abigail, and Iza’s Ballad. Each one as complex and layered as the next.
Soon, I discovered a Magda Szabó walking tour in Debrecen, led by Enikő Szabóné Nagy, a knowledgeable and earnest Debreceni. She brought her English-speaking daughter along to translate her many tales of young “Dolna”, skipping through town to go to the theatre or visit her father at work at Town Hall.
Magda Szabó is one of many talented writers from or associated with Debrecen. There is the elegiac poet Árpád Tóth, the poet Endre Ady, born with six fingers on each hand, and the poet Lőrinc Szabó, credited with developing the rhyming technique of the Hungarian language. The list goes on and on, and sometimes I wander aimlessly from bust to bust across the city, reading their names, searching online for translated works.
One summer day, when a fellow literary-minded friend came to visit from Paris, I created my own literary walking tour for her. (Take that tour for yourself, here). We started in the Great Forest and walked through the university, then took the tram to the city centre. We stared into the dark eyes of Endre Ady, whose statue stands with his hands in his pockets looking grimly back at his own death mask hanging on the opposite wall. We sat on the bench next to Magda Szabó with her two bronze cats and stack of books.
While Debrecen unfortunately does not have any English bookshops (yet!), the city is home to the prettiest library I have ever seen. The Grand Library of the Reformed College is a gorgeous and indeed grand library, cast in turquoise, and a bit hidden away atop a timeworn wooden staircase adorned with historical frescoes. It proudly boasts more than half a million books—mostly religious, including many printed before the 1500s. The library also has a permanent exhibit on book binding, and is well worth a tour. It remains my favorite place in all of Debrecen and one I lovingly force on every single friend who comes to visit.
As a writer (and reader) who has taken quite a liking to Magda Szabó’s Debrecen, I long to introduce the city’s literary culture to others, and have recently started the Debrecen Book Club, a monthly gathering where we choose one book per month to read and discuss together, in English. We welcome anyone interested in joining us. See more details here.
And until I see you at Book Club, I hope you find a moment to enjoy some of Debrecen’s literary culture. Here are some of my favourite Debrecen literary activities:
- Take a Magda Szabó walking tour with Debreceni Séták.
- Visit the American Corner of Debrecen with the Foreign Languages Department of Méliusz Library to read or borrow a book in English. They are open to the public normally between 10 am and 4 pm (Tuesday to Friday), but it’s best to send them a note first to double-check.
- Take a tour of the Reformed College and library. They offer guided tours in English that are outstanding. https://muzeum.drk.hu/. Email or call ahead to book the tour in advance.
- Visit the Magda Szabó Memorial House. They offer guided tours in English if booked in advance. https://szabomagda.drk.hu/tanulas/tarlatvezetes
- Walk through my own literary tour of Debrecen, which starts in the Great Forest and ends in the city centre.
- Join the Debrecen Book Club. The first meeting is 4 December, 2024, and there will be monthly meetings thereafter.
