Győző Ferencz

Győző Ferencz is a professor emeritus at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. From 1983 to 2020, he taught Irish and English literature at the Department of English Studies. He is also a renowned critic, literary historian, and editor.

For over four decades, Ferencz has been publishing poetry and literary criticism. His selected and new poems, published in 2018, received critical acclaim. Some of his poems, translated into English, appeared in the anthology The Colonnade of Teeth: Modern Hungarian Poetry (1996), translated by George Szirtes. Additionally, his poems were translated into Scots by Tom Hubbard in Minorotie Status (2017).

Ferencz has translated works of many prominent poets, including John Donne, William Wordsworth, John Berryman, Seamus Heaney, and Tony Harrison. He has also edited and annotated several poetry anthologies.

Since 2009, Ferencz has served as the executive president of the Széchenyi Academy of Letters and Arts, an organization akin to Aosdána. The Academy has organized the Seamus Heaney Memorial Lecture series since 2013, featuring speakers like Medbh McGuckian, Paul Muldoon, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, and Fintan O’Toole. In 2012, he was elected a member of the Academia Europaea.

Ferencz has received numerous literary awards, including the International Poetry Prize of the European Poetical Tournament in Maribor, Slovenia (2011), and the Hungarian Order of Knight’s Cross (2015).

One of his notable poems, “The Party According to Ramsey’s Principle,” explores the complexities of social interactions:

“How many people should be invited to the Ramsey party so that among the guests there should be three at least who know or else not know each other?”

This poem, translated by George Gömöri and George Szirtes, reflects on the impossibility of perfect disorder:

“The Ramsey Principle states clearly that perfect disorder can’t exist.”

"If there is ocht in Scotland that’s worth ha’en / There is nae distance to which it’s unattached" – Hugh MacDiarmid
A realignment of Scottish literary studies is long overdue. The present volume counters the relative neglect of comparative literature in Scotland by exploring the fortunes of Scottish writing in mainland Europe, and, conversely, the engagement of Scottish literary intellectuals with European texts. Most of the contributions draw on the online Bibliography of Scottish Literature in Translation. Together they demonstrate the richness of the creative dialogue, not only between writers, but also between musicians and visual artists when they turn their attention to literature. The contributors to this volume cover most of Europe, including the German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, France, Catalonia, Portugal, Italy, the Balkans, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Russia. All Scotland's major literary languages – Gaelic, Scots, English and Latin – are featured in a continent-wide labyrinth that will repay further exploration.

Tom Hubbard | University o Edinburgh - Academia.edu Skip tae main content Academia.edu nae langer supports Internet Explorer. Tae browse Academia.edu an the wider internet faster an mair securely, please tak a few seconds tae upgrade yer browser. Log InSign UpLog InSign UpmoreAboutPressBlogPeoplePapersTermsPrivacyCopyrightWe're Hirin!Help Centerless Curriculum VitaeTom HubbardUniversity o Edinburgh, Institute o Governance, Honorary Visiting FellowDownload CloseLog InLog in wi FacebookLog in wi GoogleorEmailPasswordRemember me on this computeror reset passwordEnter the email address ye signed up wi an we'll email ye a reset link. Need an account?Click here tae sign up AboutPressBlogPeoplePapersTopicsAcademia.edu JournalsWe're Hirin!Help CenterFind new research papers in:PhysicsChemistryBiologyHealth SciencesEcologyEarth SciencesCognitive ScienceMathematicsComputer ScienceTermsPrivacyCopyrightAcademia 2024

Since 1999, Tom has been a freelance lecturer and tutor, specializing in a variety of subjects. At the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Continuing Education, he has taught courses on Scottish literature from the Middle Ages to the present, the arts of France from 1848 to 1918, and the works of Dickens and Dostoyevsky. Additionally, between 1998 and 2000, he taught at Edinburgh College of Art (Heriot-Watt University), covering topics such as Scottish culture from 1871 to 1914, the visual and performing arts in Eastern Europe since 1945, and the relationship between literature and the visual arts, including a course on Vienna 1900.

Tom has also delivered numerous presentations and lectures at various institutions. Notably, he has spoken on the reception of Scottish literature abroad around 1800 at the University of Glasgow and on Dickens and Dostoyevsky at the University of Edinburgh’s Russian Studies department. From 2001 to 2005, he taught a Senior Honours course on Dickens and Dostoyevsky in the Department of English Literature.

His academic contributions include presenting papers at international conferences, such as the Carlyle Conference in 2001 and The Production of Culture conference at the University of Stirling. He has also been invited to contribute to courses on Scottish book history at Glasgow University and has given guest lectures on Robert Louis Stevenson.

In recent years, Tom has focused on Scottish-Hungarian literary dialogues, presenting at the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Central and East European Studies. He has also participated in translation events and addressed various conferences and seminars on Scottish literature and its translations, including the Edinburgh Book Festival and the Scots Language Society’s annual collogue.