the translator of Final Matters: Selected Poems, 2004-2010 by Szilárd Borbély.
Once you have done so, you will not be the same again."-Barney Bardsley, Hungarian Literature Online
In line after line of spare and devastating poetry, he goes into the heart of darkness, and invites us, with an eery calm, to go there with him. For what Szilárd Borbély has given us here is a book of death. "The title of this book gives a powerful clue as to its contents. At times, Borbely devastates, but the material is never gratuitous, however heartbreaking: and there is always, somewhere, a shred of faith, of hope, hard won-he is a poet who writes against oblivion."-Tony Flynn, High Window " Final Matters is Borbely's 'painted bleeding' the poetic craft and rhetorical strategies employed in the collection allow him to keep hidden the unspeakable personal trauma whilst at the same time revealing the questions this and other such acts of extreme violence ask of us all. "The poetry of Final Matters is a tremendous achievement, and shows that Borbély should be considered not just among the great writers of post-Soviet Europe, but also of contemporary Judaism."-Daniel Kraft, Jewish Currents "Any reader will find a mine full of treasure within Final Matters, and every reader of poetry should have a copy of this excellent translation of Borbély's masterful work."-Bruce Arlen Wasserman, New York Journal of Books In her afterword, Mulzet calls this collection “a blasphemous and fragmentary prayer book … that challenges us to rethink the boundaries of victimhood, culpability, and our own religious and cultural definitions.” Poems from Szilárd Borbély's Final Matters Restless, curious, learned, and alert, Borbély weaves into his work an unlikely mix of Hungarian folk songs, Christian and Jewish hymns, classical myths, police reports, and unsettling accounts of abortions. The original Hungarian text is set on pages facing the English translations, and the book also features an afterword by Mulzet that places the poems in literary, historical, and biographical context. In this volume, acclaimed translator Ottilie Mulzet reveals the full range and force of Borbély’s verse by bringing together generous selections from his last two books, Final Matters and To the Body. Szilárd Borbély, one of the most celebrated writers to emerge from post-Communist Hungary, received numerous literary awards in his native country.
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