Imre Kertész
While this issue was going to press, the announcement came that the 2002 Nobel Prize for literature is to go to Imre Kertész, the first Hungarian writer to be so honoured. The Hungarian Quarterly has published extracts from his work in issues 115, 124 and most recently, 163.
Our Winter 2002 issue, No. 168, will have a section devoted to Imre Kertész.
Sworn Statement, which appeared in No. 168, is here available in full.

Single Person Groups and Globalisation
By Vilmos Csányi

"Globalisation, in the absence of a generally accepted definition, is usually understood to denote a process that extends to all parts of the planet, has cultural, economic and social components and, over time, creates some form of integrated, uniform culture." Thus begins the distinguished ethologist before suggesting that biological methods, because of their success in examining systems of comparable complexity, may be of use in examing globalisation. He summarizes the human behaviour complex, pointing out that man's species-specific attributes are his group organisation abilities and compares the autonomous personality before moving onto the single-person group as a possible basis for globalisation.

Antal Szerb: The Writer Who Believed in Miracles
by György Poszler

The literary historian introduces the brief life and prolific work of the writer Antal Szerb, "a scholar among writers, a writer amongst scholars." Szerb was the author of two delightful novels and several short stories, a major work on the history of Hungarian literature and another on world literature (There is a review elsewhere in this issue by George Szirtes of Szerb's Journey By Moonlight.)

A Dog Named Madelon
by Antal Szerb

A short story featuring the writer's alter ego, Dr John Bátky, a man of letters and women.

Poems
by László Bertók

A selection, translated by the American poet Daniel Hoffman.

Ambaradan
by László Garaczi

In the summer of 2000, the Literaturexpress rolled out of Lisbon on a six week journey across Europe. On board were over 100 writers from almost every country in Europe, who stepped off to take part in readings and symposiums from Portugal to the Baltic. The young writer László Garaczi had his ticket and here describes some of his fellow-travellers and stop-overs, with a cool sense for the ridiculous and the hilarious.

The Return of Corneille
by Gábor Pataki

In 1947 a young Dutch artist was invited to Hungary, where during his brief stay he made contact with painters of the European School, who were initiating "a revolt from the fringe against the centre". The art historian Gábor Pataki writes on a Corneille exhibition in Budapest and sets it into the context of the politics and art of the time. The article is accompanied by 12 pages of colour illustrations.

A Hungarian on the Silk Road
by Ágnes Kelecsényi

Sir Aurel Stein was the greatest archaelogical explorer of Asia of his era, his name being made by three expeditions he led to Chinese Turkestan between 1900 and 1916 to rediscover the ancient cities that lay on the Silk Road.
The Indologist Agnes Kelecsényi has co-compiled the Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein held by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. She outlines the career of a scholar who, despite spending most of his life in India, maintained his scholarly connections with Hungary, bequeathing important material to it on his death in Kabul at the age of almost 80 - on an expedition. She briefly describes his bequest and selects some examples from his wide-ranging correspondence with a host of fellow scholars and friends, including Rudyard Kipling and Sven Hedin.

The Smell of Prison (Part 3)
by Ádám Bodor

This concluding extract from the writerOs autobiographical interview with his fellow- Transylvanian, the poet Zsófia Balla, includes descriptions of his years as a student in a Calvinist Theological College (the only institute where he was permitted to continue his education after being released from prison, after being convicted of "political subversion" during his secondary school years), his beginnings as a writer, his solitary sojourns (for months at a time) high in the mountains, the origins of the Sinistra District, the fictive setting for much of his work ("You spend all this time trying to be clever until finally you invent reality") and his reflections on the passing of the multi-hued Transylvania of the past.

Dohnányi Redeemed
(Ilona von Dohnányi: A Song of Life)
by Alan Walker

Liszt's biographer, now deeply involved in research on Dohnányi's life and work, reviews a narrative written by the composer's third wife, which he finds fills the gap created by the absence of any biography.

L'Allegro, Il Penseroso and Il Moderato
(The pianists Zoltán Kocsis, Dezső Ránki and András Schiff)
by Kristóf Csengery

Hungarian Radio has been broadcasting a marathon series devoted to selections from the concerts and recordings of the three outstanding pianists of their generation: Zoltán Kocsis, Dezső Ránki and András Schiff. This has been to mark the fact that all three have turned 50 in the last two years.
The musiclogist and music critic Kristóf Csengery describes their studies, early careers and deals with the examples and influences at the outset. After an assessment of the dilemna of whether or not to remain based in Hungary (Kocsis and Ránki did, Schiff blossomed after moving to London in 1979), the article concludes by describing their appearances on the concert platform in the recent past.

Ideals, Dogmas, Passions
A Budapest interview with Nicolaus Harnancourt
by András Batta

Earlier this year Nicolaus Harnancourt made his first visit to Budapest with the Concentus musicus. Here he is interviewed by Andás Batta, who heads the Department of Musicology of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music.

A Joyful Economist: Tibor Scitoszky (1910 - 2002)
by János Kornai

The author of Economics of Shortage writes a memoir of his friend and fellow economist author of - among other books - The Joyless Economy. Excerpts from Tibor Scitovsky's autobiography appeared in Nos. 155 and 156.