László Szilasi is one of the most exciting 'concoctions' in contemporary Hungarian literature: a prose writer who has won the Attila József, Tibor Déry, Bródy, Miklós Mészöly and Rotary prizes, a university professor and departmental head, a literary historian, and an essayist and researcher into the history of early Hungarian poetry, the 19th century Hungarian novel and contemporary prose. He made his début as a writer of fiction in 2010, after six books on literary theory, but it was his second novel, A harmadik híd (The Third Bridge, 2014) that brought him thunderous acclaim. It is no coincidence that this excellent novel, which delves into the deeper, colder depths of life, was declared a 'courageous, stunning, unsettling and cathartic' book by his fellow author László Darvasi. We're planning to ask László Szilasi how a single person can handle both literary and academic work, and whether he really has read every single work by Mór Jókai, whether the city of Szeged truly has its own literary tradition, and how he managed to get to know the world of Szeged's homeless so thoroughly that he could depict it in the novel in the way that he did.

Such an exceptional guest warrants an exceptional musical collaborator, and the music here is being provided by offset-printing-specialist-turned-music-editor-and-journalist, djArab, who since 1995 has gone on to become a popular DJ on Tilos Rádió and Est FM, and whose musical repertoire extends from jazz to folk and from the classical standards to hip hop and other genres of contemporary popular music. Adding even more radiance to this evening, which already promises plenty of surprises and excitement, will be popular actor Andor Lukáts.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest