Sunday, May 06, 2012

Hay Festival Budapest: Tibor Fischer just delighted to be himself


Tibor Fischer, the author of Under The Frog, is celebrated in Britain and Hungary and gave a sparkling talk at the 2012 Hay Festival Budapest.

Tibor Fischer, the author of Under The Frog, at the 2012 Hay Festival Budapest after his talk at the city's beautiful Petőfi Literary Museum.
Tibor Fischer, the author of Under The Frog, at the 2012 Hay Festival Budapest after his talk at the city's beautiful Petőfi Literary Museum. Photo: Martin Chilton
Tibor Fischer, the author of Under The Frog, was an appropriate writer to start Saturday's Hay Festival Budapest events in the city's beautiful Petőfi Literary Museum.
Fischer's parents were Hungarian basketball players, who fled the country in 1956, ending up in Stockport. The 52-year-old writer apologised for his "pretty feeble" Hungarian but said he is usually asked whether he considers himself to be a Hungarian or a British writer. He said: "One of my proudest achievements is that when an authoritative book about Hungarian literature came out about a decade ago, there was a little article about me which said I was a Hungarian writer but pretending not to be. Bearing in mind I can hardly write a cheque in Hungarian, I was delighted to be included in the pantheon of Hungarian writers. The simple answer is, though, that I am delighted to be me."
Fischer, who was in conversation with Friederich Judit, was asked whether he intentionally moved away from the bias in Hungarian fiction towards sad and miserable literature. He said: "It's true, some senior Hungarian writers are not known for their laughter. There is a strong Germanic influence - an attitude that if it's enjoyable it can't possibly be literature. Ultimately, it's about the quality of the writing whatever style you are writing. I went to a British Council event a while back and there were lots of German professors of literature. About half of them were convinced I had a German sense of humour and the other half were sure it was British. They are probably still arguing about it now."
Full piece at The Telegraph

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