ABOUT THE CONTENT
This website commemorates the life-work of István Örkény (5 April 1912 - 24 June 1979), one of the most significant writers of the Hungarian literature in the second half of the 20th century.
Örkény renewed the literary genre of the short story and he is regarded as the master of the Middle-European grotesque. He is one of the worldwide well-known Hungarian short-story writers and dramatists, his art of writing exerted a significant influence on the contemporary Hungarian literature. He became a successful, well-known writer with his short stories and grotesque theatrical plays. His One Minute Stories were published in numerous languages, his plays - The Tóth Family and the Catsplay - were performed on the different stages of the world from Budapest to New York, Damascus and Jakarta.
This website was created in spring 2009 as a result of the agreement between the Örkény Family and the National Széchényi Library. The whole life-work is not published here, only a selection of the most important works. Besides of his texts his life and literary career is documented with many digital images of his private photos, manuscripts, cover pages of the first editions, posters of the performances of his theatrical plays, and audio documents like parts of his interviews and his works preformed by actors.
The design of the website was inspired by the pictures taken in his apartment. The content will be increased continuously in the upcoming years – due to the intention of the editors.
BIBLIOGRAPHY of his works in English
- Catsplay. Tragi-comedy. [Macskajáték], transl.: Clara GYORGYEY, New York [etc.], French, 1976; - (summary)
- The flower show. The Toth family. [Rózsakiállítás, Tóték. Kisregények, New York, New Directions Publ., A New Directions book, 1982;
- A mirror to the cage. Three contemporary Hungarian plays. [Pisti a vérzivatarban], ed. a. transl.: Clara GYORGYEY, introd.: Ervin C. BRODY,
- Fayetteville, [Ark.], University of Arkansas Press, 1993;
- One minute stories, sel. & transl.: Judith SOLLOSY, introd.: Andrew RIEMER, draw.: Garry SHEAD, Rose Bay, N.S.W., Brandl & Schlesinger, 1994; - (part of selected novels)
- One minute stories, sel. and transl. by Judith SOLLOSY, Budapest, Corvina, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 (8. print.), 2007 (9. print);
- The flower show. The Toth family. [Rózsakiállítás. Tóték, Kisregények], transl.: Michael Henry HEIM and Clara Gyorgyey, Budapest, Corvina, 2001;
- More one minute stories, sel. and transl. by Judith SOLLOSY, pref.: Péter ESTERHÁZY, Budapest, Corvina, 2006, 2008; (part of selected novels)
- Peter SZIRAK: A Grotesque Allegory of Human Dignity. István Örkény: Welcoming the Major. [Intr.:The Tót family (Tóték), A tragicomedy in two acts, transl.: Bernard ADAMS]. In: Visegrad Drama 3. The Sixties. Ed.: Kamila Cerná, Zbynek Cernik, Anna Lakos, Kasia Ogidel, Natália Mazanová, Stopková, Praha, Arts and Theatre Institute, Institut umeni - Divadelní ústav, 2009. 183-212.;
- No Pardon. [Nincs pardon] = The New Hungarian Quarterly, Spring 1965, no. 17., 218-220. o.;
- The Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Psalm. [A 137. zsoltár] = The New Hungarian Quarterly, Summer 1967, no. 26. 131-139.;
- Ars Poetica = The New Hungarian Quarterly, Spring 1980, no. 77. 92-101.;
APPEARED ARTICLES
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY of the special literature
- Mari KUTTNA: The plays by István Örkény = Hung-PEN 1975. 16. szám, 52-55. o.;
- POMOGÁTS Béla: Örkény, the writer of fiction = The New Hungarian Quarterly, Spring 1980, no. 77. 102-113. o.;
- VERCORS: My Friend, István Örkény = The New Hungarian Quarterly, Spring 1980, no. 77. 89-91. o.;
- SZIRTES György: Örkény in English = New Hungarian Quarterly, 1986, 103. szám, 204-206. o.;
- BERTHA Bulcsu: Interview with a contemporary writer = Hungarian Digest, 1982, 4. szám, 93-97. o.;
- KÁLMÁN C. György: The rise of the absurd (?) in Hungarian drama = Neohelicon, 1986. 1. szám, 163–176. o.;
- Thomas KABDEBO: The post-war Hungarian short story. A háború utáni magyar novella = PEN int. (London), 37. vol. 2. no. (1987), 39-41. o.;
- HANNUS István: The writer István Örkény and chemistry = Technikatörténeti Szemle, 19. 1992. 143-145. o.;
- DEVENYI Jutka: The theatrical grotesque: an aesthetic tool for interpreting history on the Hungarian stages in the 1960’s and 1970’s =
- Hungarian studies review. 23. 1996. 1-2. szám, 85-92. o.;
- Summary in English: Margita LACZKOVÁ: Interpretácia dramatických diel Istvána Örkénya [Örkény István drámai műveinek értelmezése], prel.: Katarína KRÁLOVÁ. [Bibliogr.: 93-97. o.], Dunajská Streda, Lilium Aurum, 1996;
- PAPP Ferenc: Some aspects of linguistic communication in two recent Hungarian literary works. [Déry Tibor: G. A. úr X-ben. Örkény István: Egyperces novellák] = Modern Filológiai Közlemények, 6. 2001. 100–105. o.;
The Hungarian Centre Of The International Theatre Institute's offers
Part of selected novels under the title of One minutes stories
Istvan Örkény: ONE MINUTES STORIES
Budapest, Corvina, 1994
Selected & translated by Judith Sollosy 1994
Part of selected novels under the title of More one minutes stories
Istvan Örkény MORE ONE MINUTES STORIES
Budapest, Corvina, 2006
Selected & translated by Judith Sollosy 1994
