Random Walk

Random Walk gathers modern Hungarian verse translated by Peter V. Czipott and the late John Ridland, and edited by Johanna Domokos. Its title, borrowed from Czipott's earlier life as a physicist, names the chance-driven path by which the poems were found, through encounters, commissions and recommendations rather than any canonising scheme. Spanning the twentieth century into the present, it sets established figures beside lesser-translated contemporaries, moving through the rupture of Trianon, the 1956 revolt, imprisonment and exile, the Hungarian language itself, and quieter philosophical and devotional registers. The forms range widely, from rhymed sonnets and a heroic crown to aphoristic miniatures and free verse spread across the page. Dedicated to Ridland, who worked on it to within weeks of his death, it offers itself as a record of encounter rather than an authoritative survey.

Poets included: György Faludy, Gyula Juhász, László Tompa, Sándor Reményik, Sándor Sík, László Mécs, Dezső Győry, Milán Füst, Antal Szerb, Zoltán Zelk, Attila Gérecz, Gyula Illyés, Lőrinc Szabó, Ferenc Bartis, Sándor Márai, Ferenc Buda, János Oláh, Sándor Lezsák, Károly Jung, Sándor Gál, István Ágh, Anna Jókai, György Gyékényesi, Sándor Weöres, László Vári Fábián, Emese Egyed, Lajos Zsélyi Nagy, Árpád Farka, Géza Szőcs, Tibor Zalán, Gábor Tompa, G. András Villányi, Attila Jász, Gyöngyi Hegedűs, Barnabás Dukay, Johanna Domokos, Attila Hegyi-Botos, László Koppány Csáji, Tamás Halmai, Balázs Lázár, Laura Iancu, Laura Turai, Béla Markó.