The visit will mark Kertész?s first public appearance in the UK. Katalin Bogyay, director of the Hungarian Cultural Centre in London invited Kertész to visit the city in 2002, but he said he would accept the invitation only if his novel Fatelessness was translated again and reissued by a prestigious publishing house. In August 2005, the novel, which is based on Kertész?s own experience as a child growing up during the Holocaust, was published by the UK?s Harwill Press in a prize-winning translation by Tim Wilkinson.
Kertész will appear on Sunday at the invitation of both the Hungarian Cultural Centre and the organisers of the Jewish Book Week. He will speak at the event with Evi Blaikie, a hidden child in Hungary during the Holocaust and the author of Magda?s Daughter: A HiddenChild?s Journey Home.
More than 50 writers and publishers from Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Israel, the South African Republic, the United States, and Hungary are taking part in the book week, which runs from February 25 to 5 March. Kertész is speaking on the last day of the book week and has attracted the interest of the local press: The Times, The Guardian and the BBC will all cover the event.
This year's Jewish Book Week explored the themes of Jewish Journeys, Family Relations and The 10 Commandments. In addition to the programmes in London, Jewish Book Week events will take place in cities across the UK, including Birmingham, Cambridge, Oxford, Manchester, and Nottingham.
