Hungarian Poets and Writers on the Revolution of 1956

MMA has published a large English language anthology of the 1956-related poetic and prose works of a great number of Hungarian contemporary authors about half of them living today with the title, Down Fell the Statue of Goliath

The book is essentially the English version of a former Hungarian anthology with the title Támadó tűz voltunk (We Were a Storming Fire) which was published in the autumn of 2016 for the 60th anniversary of 1956 and were edited by late poet and member of MMA, János Oláh as well as poet and chair of section of literature of MMA, Katalin Mezey. As general editor, Csilla Bertha writes in the Introduction: "The vast majority of the works are newly translated for this English version, and here they are more or less thematically arranged, in an attempt to follow roughly the subject-matter chronology. They resist categorisation, however (since any such attempt is inevitably reductive), as many pieces overlap and comprise several moments, moods and memories from the past and reflect on them from the present time of writing." Then she points out: "This selection presents the most celebrated, now considered classic ‘56 poems' together with less well-known ones and quite a few prose works: essays, novellas, excerpts from novels... all of them together, in their variety of angels, styles, attitudes, moods and modes of speech, contribute to constructing a collage that truly reflects the atmosphere and a whole range of emotions from despair to jubilation, incredulity and admiration, then again fear, contempt (for the betrayers), horror (at the brutality of the reprisals) to tragic catharsis and meditation on the Revolutions's lasting values."
The editors of the English version have been poet and member of MMA Gyula Kodolányi, Ildikó Geiger and László Sujtó. The greeting words have been written by György Fekete, President of MMA. He writes: "This book can be regarded as the basic work of authentic chronicles, a kind of trumpet's call for reveille, the laying of a festive table with personal thoughts covering our common past, present and future. An authenticating seal on the finally rightful Hungarian chapter in the universal history of humankind. In other words, a clear picture of reality. Ours. We should read it and take possession of it with pride."

Selected by: + János Oláh és Katalin Mezey
General editor: Csilla Bertha
MMA, 2017
ISBN 978-615-5464-64-5

The publication of the book has been made possible by the support of the Memorial Committee established for the 60th anniversary of the Revolution of 1956.