Culture

Iván Fischer

Maestro Iván Fischer to refugees – “Welcome among us”

In Hungary, media has paid little or no attention to a major cultural celebration scheduled for March 1 in Berlin, Germany. The Berliner Philharmoniker, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the Staatskapelle Berlin have decided to invite refugees, their families and helpers to a concert entitled, “Welcome among us.” (More about the concert in German here.) The concert will feature the three […]

by · February 20, 2016 · Culture
Wintry Budapest - Streetcar No. 47. Photo: Karl Wood.

Attila József’s “Winter Night”

On this frigid, bitingly cold Sunday (it’s currently -26°C in the Canadian capital) Hungarian poet Attila József’s piece “Winter Night” seems like something appropriate to share with our readers. Attila József (1905-1937) is one of Hungary’s iconic twentieth century poets and one of the few who built much of his oeuvre on exploring the human condition within the Hungarian industrial […]

by · February 14, 2016 · Culture
Endre Farkas

Son of Saul — A gripping drama on dehumanization and brutal nakedness

I just saw Son of Saul. It was a powerful, intense, painful experience. I am a child (not so young anymore) of Holocaust survivors. My mother was in Auschwitz and my father was in Mauthausen. I had heard many stories, especially from my father, about their days in hell. I have seen a number of films about the concentration camp […]

by · February 3, 2016 · Culture
Debrecen / Watercolour painting by Miklós Fülöp.

Proemcards from Hungary (Part 5)

Proemcards by Montreal author Endre Farkas – a combination of prose, poetry and reflections on a journey to Hungary after having fled decades ago – concludes with this final installment, which is a continuation from Part 4, Part 3, Part 2 and Part 1. * 14. It was 38 degrees Celsius today, hot enough to make you hallucinate. It was […]

by · January 24, 2016 · Culture
Géza Röhrig,  Timi (Timea Vajna) and László Nemes Jeles at the Golden Globe gala in California.

Son of Saul, the fascistic Kurucinfo and Timi’s gown

Congratulations for the Golden Globe award won by the Hungarian film – Son of Saul. (The film has since also been nominated for an Oscar.) The drama is about the Sonderkommandos, the Jewish units of the death camps who were forced to clean the gas chambers and crematoriums. It is based on a collection of testimonies entitled “Voices from Beneath the Ashes.” Some […]

by · January 15, 2016 · Culture
Withering heat in Budapest. Photo: C. Adam.

Proemcards from Hungary (Part 4)

Proemcards by Montreal author Endre Farkas – a combination of prose, poetry and reflections on a journey to Hungary after having fled decades ago – continues from Part 3, Part 2 and Part 1. * 11. In the 1970s, when I was just starting to write poetry seriously, (seriously, as only a young writer starting to write can) I returned to Hungary. While I was […]

by · January 9, 2016 · Culture
Photo:    Portrait of Katinka Károlyi by Austrian painter John Quincy Adams.

Countess Katinka Károlyi and the great-grandson of US president Adams

Did the great-grandson of US president John Quincy Adams paint the gorgeous portrait of Katinka Károlyi? Well, it is surprising and it is true. A hundred years ago Countess Katinka (Catherine) Andrássy, the Red Countess, was a celebrated beauty in Hungary. She was born in 1892 into a powerful noble family and after a privileged upbringing she married the super-rich […]

by · December 28, 2015 · Culture
Children with Christmas tree and presents at Ellis Island in the early 1900s

Christmas at Ellis Island

This Christmas, we’re offering our readers at HFP a little historical glimpse into the holidays for immigrants to the U.S. in 1908, through the eyes of Miss M. L. Woodberry. Tens of thousands of Hungarians immigrated to Canada and the Unites States in the first decades of the tentieth century. Those arriving in the U.S. would have experienced Ellis Island. We’ll […]

by · December 24, 2015 · Culture
The Danube and the Royal Palace in Budapest. Photo: C. Adam.

Proemcards from Hungary (Part 3)

Proemcards by Montreal author Endre Farkas – a combination of prose, poetry and reflections on a journey to Hungary after having fled decades ago – continues from Part 2 and Part 1. 7. Today was the unveiling. It was 35 degrees Celsius outside. I haven’t been able to sleep through the night since we arrived. The air-conditioning only wets the carpet and […]

by · December 12, 2015 · Culture
Péter Esterházy

Get well, Péter Esterházy!

Recently Hungarian author Péter Esterházy announced in the literary weekly Élet és Irodalom that he is suffering from pancreatic cancer. The country’s literature loving public was shocked, although there had been speculations about his health after he cancelled his appearance at the Goteborg Book Fair in Sweden. The 65 years old writer’s works are well-known in Hungary and his books […]

by · December 11, 2015 · Culture