American Hungarian Library and Historical Society

10/04/2026

As part of our 70th anniversary commemoration of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, we’re collaborating with the Memory Project (Memory Project: Visual History Archive of Hungarian Emigration) to share a series of personal interviews with community members who lived through 1956 and its aftermath.

The Memory Project was founded in 2015 by Andrea Lauer Rice and Réka Pigniczky. It’s a collection of interviews with Hungarian Americans who came to the U.S. after WWII and the 1956 Revolution.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing clips from these conversations here on our page.

10/01/2026

This year marks 70 years since the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, a moment that shaped not only Hungary's history, but the story of our own community here in New York, built in large part by those who fled in its aftermath. It also marks 60 years since the founding of the Hungarian House, our home for six decades of gathering, remembrance, and celebration.​

To honor both milestones, we've put together a season of events dedicated to 1956 – exhibitions, lectures, conversations, and screenings – that look back at the revolution through history, photography, personal memory, and the people who lived it.

We hope you’ll join us as we remember, reflect, and keep these stories alive for future generations.

Explore the full program and registration details at: https://www.hungarianlibrary.org/projects-8

09/30/2026

Inside, Outside – HALTalk with Tibor Fischer

Join us for the next HALtalk with British-Hungarian novelist Tibor Fischer, in conversation with Tara Gadomski.

Born in England to Hungarian parents who fled the 1956 Revolution, Fischer has spent more than three decades exploring history, identity, displacement, and the absurdities of contemporary life through his distinctive mix of wit and satire. His debut novel, Under the Frog, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and his work includes The Thought Gang, How to Rule the World, and his latest release, My Bags Are Big (2026).

In this conversation, Fischer will reflect on being British and Hungarian, his writing and creative process, the legacy of Hungarian storytelling abroad, and the role that history and immigrant identity have played in his work.

Moderated by Tara Gadomski, Hungarian-American actor, filmmaker, and audio documentary maker.

Register through here to receive the Zoom link: https://www.hungarianlibrary.org/event-details/inside-outside-haltalk-with-tibor-fischer

09/30/2026

Some people say that poetry cannot be translated. Joe Váradi is here to prove those folks wrong. He has published three bilingual anthologies to date, with a few more on the way. This literary event will include readings of both classics and contemporary poems in translation, as well as an interactive discussion of the creative process.

Joe Váradi was born in Budapest, Hungary, and moved to the United States with his family in 1986 at age nine. Though he built a career in IT, his love of poetry translation emerged later in life, sparked by singing Hungarian children's songs with his own kids on car rides. Since 2018, he has translated bilingual poetry collections of Jenő Dsida and Sándor Petőfi, and most recently edited Áthajlás – Enjambment, an anthology bringing together 52 poems by 38 contemporary Hungarian poets into English.
Join us for a conversation on his path, his approach to capturing rhythm and humor across languages, and the challenge and joy of introducing Hungarian poetry to new readers.

OCT 8 | 6 PM

Register here: https://www.hungarianlibrary.org/event-details/library-talk-with-translator-joe-varadi

09/29/2026

Some people say that poetry cannot be translated. Joe Váradi is here to prove those folks wrong. He has published three bilingual anthologies to date, with a few more on the way. This literary event will include readings of both classics and contemporary poems in translation, as well as an interactive discussion of the creative process.

Joe Váradi was born in Budapest, Hungary, and moved to the United States with his family in 1986 at age nine. Though he built a career in IT, his love of poetry translation emerged later in life, sparked by singing Hungarian children's songs with his own kids on car rides. Since 2018, he has translated bilingual poetry collections of Jenő Dsida and Sándor Petőfi, and most recently edited Áthajlás – Enjambment, an anthology bringing together 52 poems by 38 contemporary Hungarian poets into English.

Join us for a conversation on his path, his approach to capturing rhythm and humor across languages, and the challenge and joy of introducing Hungarian poetry to new readers.

OCT 8 | 6 PM

Register here: https://www.hungarianlibrary.org/event-details/library-talk-with-translator-joe-varadi

09/17/2026

🎙️ HALtalk with George Szirtes
Sep 20 | 2:00 PM (EST)

George Szirtes, poet and literary translator, born in Budapest and living in England, Szirtes has brought Hungarian literature to English-speaking readers worldwide – including the works of 2025 Nobel laureate László Krasznahorkai. His translation of Sátántangó won the Best Translated Book Award, and his own poetry collection Reel won the T.S. Eliot Prize. In 2024, King Charles III awarded him the King's Gold Medal for Poetry.

Join us online for a conversation about his life between two languages, and the art of literary translation.
• Sep 20 | 2:00 PM (EST)
• Register here: https://www.hungarianlibrary.org/event-details/haltalk-with-george-szirtes
• Via Zoom ( Link to the Zoom sent after signup)
• Event will be in Hungarian

🎙️ HALtalk with George Szirtes

The next guest of our HALTalk series, which introduces leading figures of contemporary Hungarian literature, will be George Szirtes, poet and literary translator.

Born in Budapest and living in England, Szirtes has brought Hungarian literature to English-speaking readers worldwide – including the works of 2025 Nobel laureate László Krasznahorkai. His translation of Sátántangó won the Best Translated Book Award, and his own poetry collection Reel won the T.S. Eliot Prize. In 2024, King Charles III awarded him the King's Gold Medal for Poetry.

Join us online for a conversation about his life between two languages, and the art of literary translation.

• Sep 20 | 2:00 PM (EST)
• Register here: https://www.hungarianlibrary.org/event-details/haltalk-with-george-szirtes
• Via Zoom ( Link to the Zoom sent after signup)
• Event will be in Hungarian

09/12/2026

Join us for our next Olvass Magyarul book club meeting on September 18, where we’ll be discussing A Vége by Attila Bartis.

Reading Members get in free.
An annual Reading Membership covers all your book club events. Just log into your account at registration to apply your discount!

09/10/2026

🎙️ HALtalk with George Szirtes

The next guest of our HALTalk series, which introduces leading figures of contemporary Hungarian literature, will be George Szirtes, poet and literary translator.

Born in Budapest and living in England, Szirtes has brought Hungarian literature to English-speaking readers worldwide – including the works of 2025 Nobel laureate László Krasznahorkai. His translation of Sátántangó won the Best Translated Book Award, and his own poetry collection Reel won the T.S. Eliot Prize. In 2024, King Charles III awarded him the King's Gold Medal for Poetry.

Join us online for a conversation about his life between two languages, and the art of literary translation.

• Sep 20 | 2:00 PM (EST)
• Register here: https://www.hungarianlibrary.org/event-details/haltalk-with-george-szirtes
• Via Zoom ( Link to the Zoom sent after signup)
• Event will be in Hungarian

08/30/2026

🇭🇺 Learn Hungarian This Fall! 🇭🇺

Join us for two consecutive 7-week online Hungarian language sessions, starting the week of September 7.

Beginner group: Mondays at 5:00 PM, starting September 7.
We also offer levels from A1 through Advanced.

More info and class schedule:
https://www.hungarianlibrary.org/hungariancourses

New students who are not complete beginners: Please email us at [email protected] for placement.

Complete beginners and current students can register here:
https://www.hungarianlibrary.org/event-details/hungarian-online-language-courses-fall-semester-2026

Fee $290 for one 7-week session or $520 for both.

The courses take place on the days and times announced on the website.

08/20/2026

☕️ Today’s morning read:
🗞️

A ‘capacity for despair’ forged by political oppression has long been consider a Magyar national trait. But after Orbán, writers in the country remind us that melancholy must not always be bleak