WHITE PINE PRESS
an independent literary publisher
They’ll Be Good for Seed: Anthology of Hungarian Poetry - trans. by Gabor Gyukics & Michael Castro
$20.00, ISBN 978-1-945680-49-6
"It’s been long over due to publish an anthology of Hungarian poetry in the United States which includes the works of contemporary poets. The present anthology showcases the poetic work of eight women and eight men the ages of thirty two and sixty one. When I worked on the biographies figuring out how many collections these poets published and what else needed to be included I came across Zsuka Nagy’s remark, “I hate bios, read the poems that determine who the poet is”, and not how many prizes she/he received I might add. It’s all subjective, who says that this is the way you must write a poem, who says what you should read and what you shouldn’t. My focus was on diversity. Besides that, the poem had to be original, well versed with captivating subject matters, full of musicality, rhythm and colorful images. All in all, these poems fulfilled my desire and captured my attention. The poets include János Áfra, Johanna Domokos, Gábor G Gyukics, Attila Jász, Dénes Krusovszky, Gábor Lanckor, Júlia Lázár, Mónika Mesterházy, Zita Murányi, Zsuka Nagy, Márió Nemes Z., Anna Szabó T., Sándor Tatár, János Térey, Krisztina Tóth, and Szabina Ughy."
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—Gabor Gyukics
“They’ll Be Good For Seed is a much needed, fascinating look into what’s going on, and who’s talking, in contemporary Hungarian poetry. In the tradition of the great German Poetry In Transition translated by Charlotte Melin, Gabor Gyukics and Michael Castro act as reverse ventriloquists or as mediums— using their own talents to give voice to a wide range of different styles and people. Gyukics, who provides a preface too, is a talented Hungarian poet and translator and English readers are lucky to have him as a guide to these 16 poets writing to us from a far off country.”
—Matthew Rohrer
“Gabor Gyukics and the late Michael Castro did not structure this anthology by age, school, or Cannon. They are not concerned with historicity or awards. These poems were culled from contemporary Hungarian literary publications without concern for an author’s pedigree. So this is not a book of authors. Only the living poems matter. The subject matter is not even very referential to Hungary—a bank in Budapest, a nod to Terebesi Square, a reference to cellist Miklos Perenyi makes an appearance. These are lyric and narrative poems that stretch across the interiors of the human heart. The specificity of the poetic resides in the language, intent, and translation. What does the Eye say? What does the tourist want? Who does the ash of Bauxite cover? The answers to these and other questions can be found only in this book. They’ll Be Good for Seed is a profound and moving collection of a thriving and organic Contemporary Hungarian poetry.”
—Sean Thomas Dougherty, author of The Second O of Sorrow