Literary afternoon at the Philology Campus of the Rákóczi College

Live Literature – Writer Tímea Shrek and poet Gergely Marcsák visited the Kótyuk István Philology Campus of the Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College on 2 March.

The artist couple spoke to the students of the college about the beginning of their literary careers, their published works, the foundation and the present of the Kovács Vilmos Literary Society.

Writer Tímea Shrek said that several programmes had been cancelled in recent years, first due to the coronavirus pandemic and then because of the war that had been raging since last year, so it was a great pleasure for them to come to the campus. At the beginning of the meeting, the bicentenary of Sándor Petőfi was commemorated, with Gergely Marcsák reciting the poem “Füstbement terv”.

The authors talked about the beginning of their careers, when as students they sat together with their writer contemporaries to show and discuss their texts. In 2013, the idea of creating a society was raised, which was implemented in 2014, and the Kovács Vilmos Literary Society (KVIT) was founded. KVIT is based in the Europe-Hungarian House in Beregszász, where workshops and literary events were organised before the war and the pandemic. Among their most successful programmes are the Transcarpathian Literary Days and the Internet Recitation Competition. The aim of the society is to support young people starting their careers and to provide a creative base in Transcarpathia. As they said, KVIT and its members are now known not only at home but also in the Carpathian Basin.

Tímea Shrek is currently participating in the KMI 12 programme and has been awarded the Zsigmond Móricz Literary Scholarship in 2023, while Gergely Marcsák is a scholarship holder at the Hungarian Academy of Arts.

The two authors were members of the “Frontier Garrison” Academy for Writers of the Carpathian Basin Talent Support Ltd. Tímea Shrek’s book of prose titled “Halott föld ez” was published in early 2019, and Gergely Marcsák’s poetry collection Fekete-Tisza was published at the end of 2019. After the publication of Fekete-Tisza, the poet was awarded the Attila Gérecz Award, the Khelidón Award and the Hungarian Academy of Arts Book Award. In addition, Gergely Marcsák has published two volumes: a children’s poetry booklet entitled Pottó-panzió with Orpheusz Publishing House and a book of lectures, articles and reviews entitled Súlyos hagyomány with Intermix Publishing House.