2021.09.18.

Reviving literary traditions

It is especially gratifying that, alongside the larger cities in Hungary, some smaller settlements have also been eager to become part of the Writers’ Residence Program.  Vajszló, a village in the south of Baranya County, is an excellent example of this interest. The village has its own literary traditions: writer János Kodolányi used to live and work in Vajszló. Mayor István Horváth put considerable importance on being able to welcome authors to the village as soon as possible.   

In the first half of July, the first guest in Vajszló was Zoltán Komálovics, who lives in Győr and teaches at the Benedictine Grammar School of Pannonhalma. Komálovics wrote several poems in which he captured his experiences and daily life in the summer months, and he also wrote a short story about Franz Joseph’s visit to Vajszló, drawing on an image found on an old postcard.

The second guest was László Kürti, who came in August. Kürti chose Vajszló after his earlier stay in Pécs as a writer in residence. Press-related materials were made with both authors, and Pannon Televízió and Dunántúli Napló reported on the new Writers’ Residence program in Vajszló.