Stipendiat der Sektion Literatur 2007
Mitglied: György Konrád
1970 Born in Budapest
author and artist
writer, who also uses photography, interactive media and performance art
1995-1998 lecturer at BME University on contemporary literature
1997-1999 editor in chief of Link Budapest, an Internet magazine for contemporary literature
since 1998 editor of Jak, later Gondolat Books International Series
2001 visiting scholar at New York University lecturing on modern literature and new media.
2003 fellow of Akademie Schloss Solitude
since 2004 captain of the Hungarian writer’s football team
1993 A Statue Under a White Cover Ready to Jump, in Hungarian, poetry
1998 The Last Window Giraffe, dictionary novel in Hungarian (translated into 18 languages)
2001 The Last Window Giraffe, interactive CD-ROM, C3 Centre, Budapest
since 2000 performances with his multimedia works in over twenty countries
2003 Drei (in German). Edition Solitude, translation: Terézia Mora
2004 Die letzte Fenstergiraffe (in german), Eichborn, Berlin, translation: Terézia Mora
2006 monthly series of stories in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
2007 theatre project in six German towns
Exhibitions of pictures and interactive works in dozens of places all over the world, among them Ludwig Museum Budapest, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, The Kitchen in New York and the New Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow
2008 exhibition to be realized at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao
www.zilahy.net
„Ich wache in einem Atom-U-Boot auf, wir führen gerade ein Ablenkungsmanöver durch. Mit schweren Verlusten an Menschenleben gelingt es uns, zwei Barracudas und drei Seepferdchen zu täuschen. Die Sirenen jaulen ohne Unterbrechung. Der Offizier klärt uns mit leiser Stimme auf. Es stellt sich heraus, dass wir für die Sicherheit eines hohen Parteifunktionärs verantwortlich sind. Sonderauftrag. Wir werden nicht umsonst sterben. Die See sieht aus, als wären wir im Westen, es gibt einfach alles darin. Breschnew schwimmt in einer weissen Badekappe im Schwarzen Meer, in gebührendem Abstand folgen ihm leichte Taucher mit Schwimmflossen, sowie sein Hausarzt in einem Ruderboot. Sollte er untergehen, retten sie ihn und beleben ihn wieder. Und so geht es jeden Tag. Und wir sterben wieder und wieder für die gerechte Sache. Das ist Ewigkeit.” (Aus „Drei“)
'Péter Zilahy is the white raven of Hungarian literature... it's as if he'd been there at every milestone, as if the book were written by a journalist with the pen of a poet.'
(Péter Esterházy)
'Péter Zilahy is just the vagabond polymath the New Europe needs.' (Lawrence Norfolk)
'A breathtaking book about incredible countries and extraordinary times' (Andrzej Stasiuk)
'Zilahy captures the poetry of resistance with the confidence of a sleepwalker' (Ingo Schulze)
'Not only a great piece of literature but a visual feast as well' (BBC)
'Zilahy’s book is a great hymn to a peaceful revolution.' (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)
'Péter Zilahy is a multitalented genius of the new media. He confidently handles an enormous pool of information, and he is a glamorous performer on stage.' (Die Zeit)
'Péter Zilahy's book, written in the form of a communist children's encyclopedia, ranks among the most innovative stylistic works of 20th-century prose, along with Queneau, Calvino, Amis and Perec.'
(NRC Handelsblad)
’Zilahy's revolutionary book was written with an acrobatical skill that will take your breath away.' (ARTE)
'In these bittersweet pages you will find the fall of the regimes, and the last twenty years of Eastern Europe.'
(Rolling Stone Magazine)
'All-round 21st century Renaissance man. Peter Zilahy is the face of New Europe.'
Ottawa Citizen, Paul Gessel
Péter Zilahy, links