May
- June 2004
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This column focuses on our international SCBWI regions. If you are a member of SCBWI living outside of the U.S. and would like to start a chapter in your area, or if you are planning on traveling overseas and would like to contact one of our international SCBWI chapters, please contact International Regional Advisor Chairperson Erzsi Deak or visit the SCBWI International Chapters Website. |
Building the New Hungarian Children’s Publishing Scene
by Erzsi Deàk with Monika Tulics
The heyday of Hungarian children’s book publishing was in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, with now-Classic Hungarian children’s book writers Ágnes Nemes Nagy, Sándor Weöres, István Kormos writing and publishing during this period. The most popular ever children’s books writers in Hungary are Éva Janikovszky, Ervin Lázár, and István Csukás.
Prior to 1989, Móra was the only publishing house to publish books for children (both by Hungarian writers and translations). Today, the situation is totally different: more than 20 publishing houses publish books for children, five or six of them (Móra, Ciceró, Egmont, Passage, Minerva Nova) publish children’s books exclusively. In the 1990’s Hungary, like many parts of the publishing world, saw money in children’s books and now, every publishing house features children’s titles.
But it was with the birth of the Hungarian chapter of IBBY in the 1980’s that quality publishing started to flourish. Add to this encouraging scene, the boy wizard. Although the Harry Potter print run in Hungary cannot be compared to that in the UK, nationally it can be considered a record (200,000 copies printed). Interest in children books grew rapidly.
Today, many Hungarian writers try to re-think the classical tales. Word games often play a role (e.g. those of Pál Békés, Ferenc Szijj, Dániel Varró, Ákos Szilágyi) and books with witchcraft by writers such as András Petõcz, Viktória Bosnyák, Gyula Böszörményi are popular. Meg Cabot’s, The Princess Diaries, like elsewhere in the world, is popular in Hungary.
The biggest problem facing Hungarian book publishing is the poor liquidity of potential readers. Libraries aren’t doing much better, either, as the price for books is usually much higher than the financial sources to purchase them. The children’s books budget for last year (4,835,880,000 Forint = 18,278,589 Euro) constitutes only the 9% of the whole national budget. Another problem is that most Hungarian titles rarely are sold abroad.
Recent media attention is helping the children’s writers’ cause. Books by authors Dániel Varró and Gyula Böszörményi are now on the Hungarian bestsellers list. Katalin Szegedi, who won the Book of the Year award, has seen her illustration work exhibited nationally. And, author Krisztina Rényi won the Prix Octogons award in France.
As the publishing world advances, there are more and more conferences, most of them organized with the active presence of teachers and librarians. The publishing of Csodaceruza, a critical magazine on children’s books for parents and teachers (www.csodaceruza.com), helps get the word out about children’s books and their creators. The magazine is now sponsored by the National Cultural Fund and the Ministry of Education and edited by Csilla Sándor (Regional Advisor for the Hungarian chapter of the SCBWI), Monika Tulics (Assistant Advisor for the Hungarian chapter of the SCBWI), and Ágnes Frey.
Author of Kétbalkezes varázsló [The Clumsy Magician], PÁL BÉKÉS was born in 1956 in Budapest, Hungary. He was first touched by Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, which he read as a child, in translation by Petõfi’s widow, Júlia Szendrey, unusual for his generation at the time, entitled The Firm Soldier. Whether this or his favorite book as a child - the most popular novel for children in Hungary, Pál Street Boys by Ferenc Molnár - influenced him to write, Békés has gone on to publish 16 of his own books as well as for the stage and screen. He also translates from English to Hungarian. He is a popular novelist for children in Hungary.
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