At this year’s PesText Festival on 26–27 April at the Három Holló Café, the audience will meet renowned Portuguese author David Machado, Italian author Davide Calì, known for his children’s books, and Dutch writer Milo Van Bokkum, among others.

At the two-day event, well-known Hungarian writers, journalists, and literary translators will be in conversation with guest authors such as Éva Bánki, Zsófia Czakó, Krisztián Puskár, Dávid Szél, Péter Szűcs, and Bálint Urbán.

Discussions will be held in foreign languages, with interpretation provided for the audience by the organizers. Books by the authors will also be available for purchase on the spot, with book signings.

According to a statement from the organizers, Portuguese author David Machado made his name with children’s books, followed by the publication of novels and short stories for adults. His novel Average Happiness Index won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2015. It is a dramatic and realistic novel that places David Machado among the best novelists of his generation. Bálint Urbán, literary scholar and literary translator, will talk to the author.

Italian author Giulia Caminito’s novels explore social injustices, generational anxieties, family difficulties, and trauma. Her novel titled The Water of the Lake is Never Sweet is essentially a coming-of-age story of loss, in which the dynamic narrative voice delves into the protagonist’s thoughts and gives a glimpse into the less glamorous places of Italian cities. The author will be interviewed by writer and translator Zsófia Czakó.

Turkish writer Oya Baydar has been involved in the Turkish labour movement, university occupations, and protests since her youth. In 1980 she fled to Germany, where she witnessed the collapse of the socialist regimes. She returned to Turkey in 1992, where she continues to play an active political role and is one of the country’s most popular writers to this day. Her most recent novel, available in Hungarian, is The Lost Word. She will be in conversation with Éva Bánki, a writer and literary historian.

Italian-born Swiss author Davide Calì writes picture books and comics mainly for children and teenagers. Many of his books are also available in Hungarian. Calì will be interviewed by Dávid Szél, a clinical psychologist and blogger.

Luca Novelli is an Italian cartoonist and writer. He made his first drawings for university publications in 1967. His comics, also available in Hungarian, are about scientists whose discoveries have changed the way mankind thinks, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and Nikola Tesla. The discussion will be moderated by cultural journalist Krisztián Puskár.

Dutch journalist and author Milo Van Bokkum tells the story of the world’s strangest national borders in his first book available in Hungarian. He also works as a tour guide, having previously led tours in Russia and Ukraine, but since the outbreak of war, he has focused on the Balkans, Hungary, Poland, and the Baltic states. His book Border Regions. Why Borders Are Where They Are explores and illustrates through specific examples what makes the lines that separate countries so intriguing. He will be interviewed by Péter Szűcs, writer and travel blogger, as stated in the press release.

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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/MTI