BIOGRAPHY
1959: born in Debrecen, Hungary.
1982-1988: takes university courses in Debrecen, Budapest, München, and learns classical music privately.
1983-2000: spends 3-4 months a year playing the flute on the streets of Germany, Switzerland, England, France, Italy, and Austria.
1988: graduates from Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) with degrees in Hungarian language/literature and Aesthetics.
1991: earns his doctoral degree at ELTE, with a dissertation entitled Hermann Hesse világképe (The World View of Hermann Hesse).
1988-1994: teaches literature and aesthetics in secondary schools for the arts in Budapest.
1990-1992: instructor of music aesthetics at the Department of Cultural History, ELTE.
2001: makes his remarks on The Aim of Literature is to Combat Stupidity in Lahti International Writers' Reunion.
2002: gives a reading of his first novel at the University of California (Riverside).
2003: gives a joint reading with translator Paul Olchváry of his two works at Columbia University.
2000-2005: works on A kilencedik (The Ninth) at artist retreats in the United States (The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo Artists’ Community, The Edward F. Albee Foundation “The Barn”, Espy Foundation, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts).
2009 June: participates in readings and discussions about The Ninth in New York (Chez Bushwick), New Brunswick (American Hungarian Foundation), Toronto (Hungarian Canadian Cultural Center), and Chicago (Norridge United Church of Christ and 57th Street Books).
Awards
2001: Sándor Márai Prize
2006: Tibor Déry Prize
2010: The Ninth was longlisted for the Best Translated Book Award (Three Percent, USA)