Zoltán Brassai Arriving and Staying Here

Until 2018 the contemporary literary life of Veszprém was linked to Hungarian and international literary culture by the literary critic Zoltán Brassai. As a moderator of literary evenings, as a secondary school teacher he served the same purpose as his essays and studies: it is worth getting to know quality reading, because it gives us experience, freshness, the soul-cleansing joy of thinking.

In his book of studies entitled Arriving and Staying Here he ranges from the old greats (Mikszáth, Ányos) to the canonized Hungarian contemporaries (Istvány Szilágyi, Lajos Grendel, Árpád Tőzsér, István Koncz, György Spiró, Imre Oravecz, Pál Závada, Lajos Parti Nagy, Szilárd Borbély, János Géczi, Ottó Fenyvesi, Zsolt Láng, Elemér Balogh), to the more recent generation (Péter Bozsik, Balla D. Károly Balla D., Ferenc Czinki). He presents some of them more in depth, through several of their volumes.

In addition to the essays the book also includes some of my more essay-like writings. It is a testimony to his passion for Veszprém and also to his deep attachment to the city through a French aspect of the history of this episcopal see.

As a kind of reward game, he deals with Fanni Gyarmati's (Radnóti's widow) volume and publishes in these pages - as a steadfast disciple - his interview with Mihály Ilia and his commemorative publicist's tribute to the great doyen of our literature.

Castle Street Workshop Books 41 - Veszprém

The book is sponsored by the National Cultural Fund