Hungarian PEN Club is an affiliate of

International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internati ...

. The Hungarian Club was established in 1926 by Antal Radó. Early writers associated with the club included

Albert Berzeviczy Albert Berzeviczy de Berzevicze et Kakaslomnicz (Berzevice, 7 June 1853 – Budapest, 22 March 1936) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education between 1903 and 1905. Career He attended to the Law Academy o ...

and

Jenő Rákosi Jenő Rákosi (born Jenő Kremsner; 12 November 1842, Acsád, Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867), Kingdom of Hungary – 8 February 1929, Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46), Hungary) was a Hungarian writer, journalist, theater director, edit ...

. Prominent members include Zsolt Harsányi, Miklós Hubay,

Dezső Kosztolányi Dezső Kosztolányi (; March 29, 1885 – November 3, 1936) was a Hungarian writer, journalist, translator, and also a speaker of Esperanto. He wrote in all literary genres, from poetry to essays to theatre plays. Building his own style, he used ...

Sándor Márai (; Archaic English name: Alexander Márai; 11 April 1900 – 21 February 1989) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian writer, poet, and journalist. Biography Márai was born on 11 April 1900 in the city of Košice, Kassa, Kingdom of Hungary, Hun ...

Árpád Göncz Árpád Göncz (; 10 February 1922 – 6 October 2015) was a Hungarian writer, translator, lawyer and liberal politician who served as President of Hungary from 2 May 1990 to 4 August 2000. Göncz played a role in the Hungarian Revolution of 19 ...

, Gábor Görgey, and Zoltán Sumonyi.

Janus Pannonius Grand Prize for Poetry

In 2012, the club established a new literary award for International poetry called the Janus Pannonius International Poetry Prize, later renamed the Grand Prize for Poetry. It includes a prize of funded by the Hungarian government. The award is named in honor of Hungarian poet

Janus Pannonius Janus Pannonius ( or , , ; 29 August 1434 – 27 March 1472) was an influential intellectual in the Kingdom of Hungary, a Latinist, poet, diplomat and Bishop of Pécs. He was the most significant poet of the Renaissance in the Kingdom of Hun ...

(1434-1472) and is presented yearly on his birthday, August 29. There are also two translation prizes, each with the award of . In 2012, the inaugural award was rejected by American recipient

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. An author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, and ...

due to concerns over human rights issues in Hungary under Prime Minister

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the 56th prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has also led the Fidesz political party since 200 ...

, since the award is sponsored by the Hungarian government. Ferlinghetti wrote that "Since the policies of this right-wing regime tend toward authoritarian rule and the consequent curtailing of freedom of expression and civil liberties, I find it impossible for me to accept the Prize in the United States. Thus, I must refuse the prize in its present terms." In 2013, the club announced that "To avoid similar concerns in the future, the financial part of the prize has been sourced from private donations alone."

Honorees

;2012 *Grand Prize:

(United States) *Translation prize: Ithamar Jáoz-ready (Israel) and Javorsky Bela (Hungary) ;2013 *Grand Prize:

Simin Behbahani Simin Behbahani, her surname also appears as Bihbahani (née Siminbar Khalili; ; 20 July 1927 – 19 August 2014) was a prominent Iranian contemporary poet, lyricist, and activist. Renowned for her mastery of the ghazal, a traditional poetic for ...

(Iran) *Translation Prize: László Márton *Translation Prize: Péter Rácz ;2014 *Grand Prize:

Adunis Ali Ahmad Said Esber (, Levantine Arabic, North Levantine ; born 1 January 1930), also known by the pen name Adonis or Adunis ( ), is a Syrian people, Syrian poet, essayist and translator. Maya Jaggi, writing for The Guardian stated "He led a mod ...

(Adonis) (Syria) *Grand Prize:

Yves Bonnefoy Yves Jean Bonnefoy (24 June 1923, Tours – 1 July 2016, Paris) was a French poet and art historian. He also published a number of translations, most notably the plays of William Shakespeare which are considered among the best in French. He was a ...

(France) *Translation Prize: Zoltán Csehy *Lifetime Award for Translation:

György Gömöri György () is a Hungarian version of the name ''George''. Some notable people with this given name: * György Alexits (1899–1978), Hungarian mathematician * György Almásy (1867–1933), Hungarian asiologist, traveler, zoologist and ethnogr ...

;2015 *Grand Prize:

Charles Bernstein Charles Bernstein may refer to: * Charles Bernstein (composer) (born 1943), American composer of film and television scores * Charles Bernstein (poet) (born 1950), American poet, essayist, editor, and literary scholar {{hndis, Bernstein, Cha ...

(United States) *Grand Prize:

Giuseppe Conte Giuseppe Conte (; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy, prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) sin ...

(Italy) *Translation Prize: Wilhelm Droste *Lifetime Award for Translation: Ádám Makkai ;2016 *Grand Prize:

Adam Zagajewski Adam Zagajewski (21 June 1945 – 21 March 2021) was a Polish poet, novelist, translator, and essayist. He was awarded the 2004 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award, the 2017 ...

*Translation Prize: Gyula Kodolányi *Lifetime Award for Translation: Pál Sohár *Filius Ursae Award: János Dénes Orbán ;2017 *Grand Prize:

Augusto de Campos Augusto de Campos (born 14 February 1931) is a Brazilian writer who (with his brother Haroldo de Campos) was a founder of the Concrete poetry movement in Brazil. He is also a translator, music critic and visual artist. Work In 1952 he founded ...

*Translation Prize:

Ádám Nádasdy Ádám Nádasdy (born 15 February 1947) is a Hungary, Hungarian linguistics, linguist and poet. He is professor Emeritus#In_academia, emeritus at the ELTE School of English and American Studies, School of English and American Studies of the ELTE ...

*Translation Prize: Hans-Henning Paetzke *Filius Ursae Award:

Katalin Ladik Katalin Ladik (born Újvidék, 25 October 1942) is a Hungarian poet, performance artist and actress. She was born in Újvidék, Kingdom of Hungary (today Novi Sad, Serbia), and in the last 20 years she has lived and worked alternately in Novi ...

;2018 *Grand Prize: Yang Lian *Translation Prize: Clive Wilmer *Translation Prize: Pál Ferenc *Filius Ursae Award: Sántha Attila ;2019 *Grand Prize: Clara Janés Nadal *Translation Prize:

Judit Vihar Judit Vihar () (born 28 August 1944) is a Hungarian literary historian, Japanologist, professor emerita, translator, haiku poet and head of The Hungary–Japan Friendship Society. She has been active in the relationship between Japan and Hungar ...

*Translation Prize: Gilevszki Paszkal *Filius Ursae Award: Zsolt Győrei

References

External links

PEN International - Hungarian PEN Centre honlapja
{{Authority control International PEN centers Hungarian literature