“The audience will have the chance to meet a great personality of world literature, a first class writer of international renown, who is at least as popular abroad as he is at home in Hungary.” These words were written earlier this year for an evening organised and advertised, but which will now be forever postponed. Péter Esterházy left us as he lived: with dignity, peerless elegance, and with his freedom intact. His unmissable, era-defining ouvre deserves its own chapter in any literary handbook – in each successive book he posed new challenges and intellectual adventures, always throwing up unexpected surprises to enchant the reader. This magical, pulsating vivacity and continuing capacity for reinvention derived from Esterházy's open, ever curious approach, bypassing outmoded posturing and instead relying on his own personal outlook, leading him to be ranked by commentators in the international cultural sphere as one of the true shapers of international opinion. His keen intelligence and gripping, witty and captivating personality will be remembered during this evening by his closest friends and colleagues, together with well known actors quoting from the words and influential works of this unforgettable literary figure.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest