Magda Szabó was a Hungarian novelist. She also wrote dramas, essays, studies, memoirs, and poetry. She is the most translated Hungarian author, with publications in 42 countries and over 30 languages.
Szabó began her writing career as a poet and published her first book of poetry, Bárány, in 1947, which was followed by Vissza az emberig in 1949. In 1949 she was awarded the Baumgarten Prize, which was immediately withdrawn when Szabó was labeled an enemy to the Communist Party. She was dismissed from the Ministry in the same year. The Stalinist era from 1949 to 1956 censored any literature, such as Szabó's work, that did not conform to socialist realism. Since her husband was also censored by the communist regime, she was forced to teach in a Calvinistgirls' school until 1959. She wrote her first novel, Freskó during these years, which was published in 1958. The novel tells the story of a puritan family coming together for a funeral, while examining questions of hypocrisy and reflecting on Hungarian history. In the same year, she published another book of poetry titled Bárány Boldizsár and a novel written for a younger female audience titled Mondják meg Zsófikának. Az őz was published in 1959, a novel centered around an actress and her struggle to overcome a difficult, impoverished childhood. In this novel, Szabó effectively portrays the psychological, internal world of the modern woman. In 1961 and 1962, Szabó published two more novels for young women, Álarcosbál and Születésnap respectively. Pilátus, the story of a female doctor and her relationship with her mother, was published in 1963. Tündér Lala, her 1965 novel, is one of the most popular novels for children written in Hungarian. In 1969, she published Katalin utca, a realistic depiction of post-World War II life. Her most widely read novel Abigél is an adventure story about a young girl living in eastern Hungary during World War II. The novel's success resulted in a TV series, produced in 1978; the novel was also adapted into a musical that premiered in March 2008. In 1971, Szabó began a series of autobiographical works, which depict her family history. The first of this series is the short novel, Ókút, followed by Régimódi történet. In 2002, Szabó continued this autobiographical series with Für Elise, a recollection of the author's life from 1917 to 1935. Today, this is one of her most popular works in Hungarian. In 1975, Szabó published a collection of plays titled Az órák és a farkasok. She published two more dramas in 1984, Erőnk szerint and Béla Király. Her novel Az ajtó was published in 1987 and would become one of her most famous works worldwide. The novel revolves around the relationship between two women, one a prominent Hungarian writer much like Szabó herself, and the other her cryptic housekeeper. Claire Messud writes in the New York Times that reading "The Door," has completely changed her outlook on life while Cynthia Zarin, contributor to The New Yorker, calls it "a bone-shaking book." "The Door" was translated into English in 1995 by Stefan Draughon and again in 2005 by Len Rix.
Selected bibliography
Mondják meg Zsófikának. Tell Sally..., translated by Ursula McLean.
Az őz. The Fawn, translated by Kathleen Szasz.
Disznótor. Night of the Pig-Killing, translated by Kathleen Szasz.
2003: a French translation of "The Door" by Chantal Philippe is awarded the Prix Femina étranger, a French literary award, for the best foreign novel
Abigél was chosen as the sixth most popular novel in the Hungarian version of Big Read. Three more of her novels appeared in the top 100: Für Elise, An Old-Fashioned Story and The Door.
