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==Work==
==Work==
===Poetry===
<!--===Poetry===
Petöcz has published around 25 books, including poems for adults and children, essays, fiction and reviews. The most notable poetry volumes of these are the book under the title ''A tenger dicsérete'' (1994, <small>ISBN 963 7971 51 3</small>), it was also published in English (''In Praise of the Sea'', translated by Jascha Kessler, István Totfalusi, Jason Vincz, 1999, <small>ISBN 963 9101 51 6</small>), the poetry collections ''Meduza'' (2000, <small>ISBN 963 9048 83 6</small>), and ''A napsütötte sávban'' (''In the Sun-Kissed Zone'', 2001, <small>ISBN 963 9243 32 9</small>). He has published also a "collected poems book", under the title ''Majdnem minden'' (''Almost everything'', 2002, <small>ISBN 963 9243 56 6</small>).
Petöcz has published around 25 books, including poems for adults and children, essays, fiction and reviews. The most notable poetry volumes of these are the book under the title ''A tenger dicsérete'' (1994, <small>ISBN 963 7971 51 3</small>), it was also published in English (''In Praise of the Sea'', translated by Jascha Kessler, István Totfalusi, Jason Vincz, 1999, <small>ISBN 963 9101 51 6</small>), the poetry collections ''Meduza'' (2000, <small>ISBN 963 9048 83 6</small>), and ''A napsütötte sávban'' (''In the Sun-Kissed Zone'', 2001, <small>ISBN 963 9243 32 9</small>). He has published also a "collected poems book", under the title ''Majdnem minden'' (''Almost everything'', 2002, <small>ISBN 963 9243 56 6</small>).


He also edited several volumes of avant-garde literature and worked as organiser for a variety of events showcasing experimental literature. In the eighties he was one of the "leaders" of Hungarian avant-garde poetry, having begun to work on [[sound poetry]] during the period: <ref name="sound poetry">{{Citation | last=Szkarosi | first=Endre | author-link= | publication-date= | date= | year=2001 | title=A soundscape of contemporary Hungarian poetry | periodical=Visible Language | series= | publication-place= | place= | publisher= | volume= | issue= | pages=5 | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3982/is_200101/ai_n8942624/pg_5 | issn= | doi= | oclc= | accessdate=2001-11-05}} "Andras Petocz began to work with sound poetry in the 1980s, as one of the (then) young poets inspired by the more and more assiduous presence of Magyar Muhely in Hungary. Petocz's poetry essentially is based on the tradition of French phonetic poetry: the strong role of repetition is combined with a poetic language constructed of phonemes, syllables and relatively few words. He has been collaborating with the outstanding Hungarian composer, Laszlo Sary."</ref> His visual and [[concrete poetry]] is well known. Béla Vilcsek writes about his poetry: "Legends and extremes accompany Andras Petöcz on his home ground. He always has a dichotomy, either wanting to pay respects to classicism or to modernity, conservatism or avant-garde, sonnet or free verse, tradition or the new. In his mid-thirties, he already commands an authoritative reputation with his life-work, in both its quantity and quality. There are few writers like this among those in his field."<ref name="Vilcsek quotation">Béla Vilcsek: Afterword (In: Andras Petocz: In Praise of the Sea, cover, 1999, <small>ISBN 963 9101 51 6</small>)"</ref>
He also edited several volumes of avant-garde literature and worked as organiser for a variety of events showcasing experimental literature. In the eighties he was one of the "leaders" of Hungarian avant-garde poetry, having begun to work on [[sound poetry]] during the period: <ref name="sound poetry">{{Citation | last=Szkarosi | first=Endre | author-link= | publication-date= | date= | year=2001 | title=A soundscape of contemporary Hungarian poetry | periodical=Visible Language | series= | publication-place= | place= | publisher= | volume= | issue= | pages=5 | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3982/is_200101/ai_n8942624/pg_5 | issn= | doi= | oclc= | accessdate=2001-11-05}} "Andras Petocz began to work with sound poetry in the 1980s, as one of the (then) young poets inspired by the more and more assiduous presence of Magyar Muhely in Hungary. Petocz's poetry essentially is based on the tradition of French phonetic poetry: the strong role of repetition is combined with a poetic language constructed of phonemes, syllables and relatively few words. He has been collaborating with the outstanding Hungarian composer, Laszlo Sary."</ref> His visual and [[concrete poetry]] is well known. Béla Vilcsek writes about his poetry: "Legends and extremes accompany Andras Petöcz on his home ground. He always has a dichotomy, either wanting to pay respects to classicism or to modernity, conservatism or avant-garde, sonnet or free verse, tradition or the new. In his mid-thirties, he already commands an authoritative reputation with his life-work, in both its quantity and quality. There are few writers like this among those in his field."<ref name="Vilcsek quotation">Béla Vilcsek: Afterword (In: Andras Petocz: In Praise of the Sea, cover, 1999, <small>ISBN 963 9101 51 6</small>)"</ref>
-->

===Prose===
===Prose===
The more than six prose books András Petöcz has published contain essays and reviews such as ''Idegenként, Európában'' (''As a Stranger in Europe'', 1997, <small>ISBN 963 9101 02 8</small>), a series of short stories called ''Egykor volt házibarátaink'' (''Once We Had House Friends, Chapters from a Family Saga'', 2002, <small>ISBN 963 547 632 9</small>), and a novel ''A születésnap'' (''The Birthday'', 2006, <small>ISBN 963 9651 20 6</small>). The latter too, contains “family stories”. In the short stories the narrator was referred to as “young Tony”, now he is simply Tony. He has an elder sister Irma. The strange and amusing stories are all told by Tony as the people he sees in the family photo album come to life. All the events happen in a period of about thirty years, but the narrator and his sister, Irma, remain children all the way through. Many eccentric and jolly characters turn up in the family circle, for example Auntie Sarah, who used to bring spicy Jewish layered apple cakes with her everywhere she went, Auntie Bettie, who once had her bottom poked by a china dog as she sat down in an armchair, or Eating-Joint Johnny, who had to stop working in a restaurant. The novel ends with a scene "waiting for Tony's father" (cf. "Waiting for Godot") and with a birthday supper which lists on the menu all the dishes that were Tony’s and the others’ favourites in the past.
<!--The more than six prose books András Petöcz has published contain essays and reviews such as ''Idegenként, Európában'' (''As a Stranger in Europe'', 1997, <small>ISBN 963 9101 02 8</small>), a series of short stories called ''Egykor volt házibarátaink'' (''Once We Had House Friends, Chapters from a Family Saga'', 2002, <small>ISBN 963 547 632 9</small>), and a novel ''A születésnap'' (''The Birthday'', 2006, <small>ISBN 963 9651 20 6</small>). The latter too, contains “family stories”. In the short stories the narrator was referred to as “young Tony”, now he is simply Tony. He has an elder sister Irma. The strange and amusing stories are all told by Tony as the people he sees in the family photo album come to life. All the events happen in a period of about thirty years, but the narrator and his sister, Irma, remain children all the way through. Many eccentric and jolly characters turn up in the family circle, for example Auntie Sarah, who used to bring spicy Jewish layered apple cakes with her everywhere she went, Auntie Bettie, who once had her bottom poked by a china dog as she sat down in an armchair, or Eating-Joint Johnny, who had to stop working in a restaurant. The novel ends with a scene "waiting for Tony's father" (cf. "Waiting for Godot") and with a birthday supper which lists on the menu all the dishes that were Tony’s and the others’ favourites in the past.
-->

Károly D. Balla writes about ''A születésnap'': “The author, who is himself on the threshold of dreams, redeems historical and family tragedies with angelic good humour, and what might make an adult grumpy and ill is rendered tolerable by the imagination of childhood memories and the genuineness of the hope in them.”<ref name="HUNLIT">{{cite web |url=http://www.hunlit.hu/petoczandras |title=? |accessdate=2007-11-05 |last=Balla |first=Károly D. |coauthors= |date= |work=Magyar Hírlap |publisher= |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl=http://www.hunlit.hu/petoczandras,en |archivedate=2007-11-05 |quote= }}</ref>
Károly D. Balla writes about ''A születésnap'': “The author, who is himself on the threshold of dreams, redeems historical and family tragedies with angelic good humour, and what might make an adult grumpy and ill is rendered tolerable by the imagination of childhood memories and the genuineness of the hope in them.”<ref name="HUNLIT">{{cite web |url=http://www.hunlit.hu/petoczandras |title=? |accessdate=2007-11-05 |last=Balla |first=Károly D. |coauthors= |date= |work=Magyar Hírlap |publisher= |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl=http://www.hunlit.hu/petoczandras,en |archivedate=2007-11-05 |quote= }}</ref><!--


The second novel ''Idegenek'' (''Strangers'', 2007, <small>ISBN 978 963 9651 54 8</small>) has a subtitle : ''Thirty Minutes Before the War''. The question of where the novel is set is left open. We never find out. It may be in a dictatorship, somewhere on the edges of Eastern Europe. The Beslan school hostage crisis of September 2004 is referred to at the end. The main character is an 8-year-old girl, who tells her story. She and her mother have had to flee to a small town near a border. Her mother dies in a massacre and the girl is later at the mercy of terrorists who take over the school-opening ceremony. The world of the novel is about distorted forms of communication. Fairly early on her mother teaches the little girl to lie as a way of surviving. The mother also wants the child to learn the language of the state perfectly. People speak in various local dialects, but the girl's mother wanted her to be so fluent in the official state language that she will not stand out and people cannot tell that it is not her own. In the story the girl finds herself in an increasingly hopeless situation. At the end of the book, she sets off along a 12-kilometre long, rat-infested tunnel in an attempt to reach the free world. We do not know if she succeeds or whether she finally finds liberation. The tone of the book is objective and unemotional. The French epigraph is a quote from Albert Camus' The Outsider – written in cold, impassive language. Similarly, the tension in the novel comes partly from the fact that the narrator is a young girl and her detached telling of the story makes the book very powerful.
The second novel ''Idegenek'' (''Strangers'', 2007, <small>ISBN 978 963 9651 54 8</small>) has a subtitle : ''Thirty Minutes Before the War''. The question of where the novel is set is left open. We never find out. It may be in a dictatorship, somewhere on the edges of Eastern Europe. The Beslan school hostage crisis of September 2004 is referred to at the end. The main character is an 8-year-old girl, who tells her story. She and her mother have had to flee to a small town near a border. Her mother dies in a massacre and the girl is later at the mercy of terrorists who take over the school-opening ceremony. The world of the novel is about distorted forms of communication. Fairly early on her mother teaches the little girl to lie as a way of surviving. The mother also wants the child to learn the language of the state perfectly. People speak in various local dialects, but the girl's mother wanted her to be so fluent in the official state language that she will not stand out and people cannot tell that it is not her own. In the story the girl finds herself in an increasingly hopeless situation. At the end of the book, she sets off along a 12-kilometre long, rat-infested tunnel in an attempt to reach the free world. We do not know if she succeeds or whether she finally finds liberation. The tone of the book is objective and unemotional. The French epigraph is a quote from Albert Camus' The Outsider – written in cold, impassive language. Similarly, the tension in the novel comes partly from the fact that the narrator is a young girl and her detached telling of the story makes the book very powerful.-->


György C. Kálmán writes about ''Idegenek'': “In the world of the novel – it is difficult to interpret Petőcz’s work any other way – everyone is an outsider. As they are in the outside world (suggests the novel). For in this world (in the novel and outside) the fact of being an outsider means to be vulnerable to a deadly threat (or is itself a threat), it means oppression, helplessness and determined opposition. Being an outsider is not just about a different use of language (or using a different language), clothes, skin colour or customs, but is embodied primarily in oppression and power – wherever the outsider may be. To be more precise, the defenceless and those in power are both outsiders for each other, and no matter who is in either position, for everyone else too.”<ref name="Kálmán quotation">György C. Kálmán about the "Idegenek" (Strangers), in: New Books from Hungary, [http://www.hungarianbookfoundation.hu published by Translation Fund of the Hungarian Book Foundation,] editor Ms.Dóra Károlyi, 2007{{specify}}</ref>
György C. Kálmán writes about ''Idegenek'': “In the world of the novel – it is difficult to interpret Petőcz’s work any other way – everyone is an outsider. As they are in the outside world (suggests the novel). For in this world (in the novel and outside) the fact of being an outsider means to be vulnerable to a deadly threat (or is itself a threat), it means oppression, helplessness and determined opposition. Being an outsider is not just about a different use of language (or using a different language), clothes, skin colour or customs, but is embodied primarily in oppression and power – wherever the outsider may be. To be more precise, the defenceless and those in power are both outsiders for each other, and no matter who is in either position, for everyone else too.”<ref name="Kálmán quotation">György C. Kálmán about the "Idegenek" (Strangers), in: New Books from Hungary, [http://www.hungarianbookfoundation.hu published by Translation Fund of the Hungarian Book Foundation,] editor Ms.Dóra Károlyi, 2007{{specify}}</ref>

Revision as of 22:32, 6 November 2007

Andras Petöcz is a Hungarian writer and a sound, visual, concrete and performance poet (Budapest, 27 August, 1959- )

Life

He began his career in literary life in 1981. He was the chief editor for over two years of the art periodical Jelenlét (Presence) which was published by the Faculty of Humanities, Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences in Budapest and soon became a significant forum on contemporary literature. He graduated from Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences in 1986 where he studied Hungarian Literature and Language-History.

After obtaining his degree he was an assistant at Gorkii State Library for a short time, and then worked as an editor for longer and shorter periods on literary magazines. Since then he has been working as a professional writer.

Petöcz has taken part in several international literary and art festivals, e.g. in Paris (1986), in Tarascon (France, 1988), in Marseille (1995). He has been working as a university and college lecturer for seven years.

Work

Prose

Károly D. Balla writes about A születésnap: “The author, who is himself on the threshold of dreams, redeems historical and family tragedies with angelic good humour, and what might make an adult grumpy and ill is rendered tolerable by the imagination of childhood memories and the genuineness of the hope in them.”[1]

György C. Kálmán writes about Idegenek: “In the world of the novel – it is difficult to interpret Petőcz’s work any other way – everyone is an outsider. As they are in the outside world (suggests the novel). For in this world (in the novel and outside) the fact of being an outsider means to be vulnerable to a deadly threat (or is itself a threat), it means oppression, helplessness and determined opposition. Being an outsider is not just about a different use of language (or using a different language), clothes, skin colour or customs, but is embodied primarily in oppression and power – wherever the outsider may be. To be more precise, the defenceless and those in power are both outsiders for each other, and no matter who is in either position, for everyone else too.”[2]

Prizes

Participations

Resources

References

  1. ^ Balla, Károly D. "?". Magyar Hírlap. Archived from the original on 2007-11-05. Retrieved 2007-11-05. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ György C. Kálmán about the "Idegenek" (Strangers), in: New Books from Hungary, published by Translation Fund of the Hungarian Book Foundation, editor Ms.Dóra Károlyi, 2007[specify]
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