Thomas
Cooper

After having completed his doctorate in comparative literature at Indiana University, Thomas Cooper taught Hungarian literature and language at the University of North Carolina and then served as the Assistant Director of the Center for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University. He now teaches at the Károli Gáspár University in Budapest. He has translated works of literature by an array of authors, including Nobel Prize-winning writers Imre Kertész and Herta Müller.

Photograph © Thomas Cooper

MORE FROM THE TRANSLATOR

Fiction
Nocturnal Predators by Tamás Kötter

A group of people in a therapy session explore the more sumptuous sides of their hidden desires and touch on the intertwining of trauma and desire.

Fiction
Rug in the Trunk by László Márton

A mystery by László Márton involving a Hungarian chemical engineer and a Persian rug, set in Vienna, just six years after the Soviets withdrew.

Non-Fiction
Café of Eternal Light by Noémi Saly

In her essay about the legendary Hungarian Café Pilvax, Noémi Saly offers our readers a sneek peek into the revolutonary atmosphere of 1848.

Fiction
Superposition by László András

In this short story by András László, a nameless narrator recounts the grim tale of Károly Kósa Jr., Károly Kósa Sr. and the bloody axe.

Fiction
Arinca, the Lăteşti Camp by András Visky

At Lăteşti Camp, a new arrival, Arinca, develops a reputation for her stormy love life, frequent escapes, and ability to find bodies.

Fiction
The Bride of Zorro by Thomas Raab

Anton loves Marie, no doubt about it, but what’s a man to do without so much as a rejection, a disparaging glance? A unsettling tale by Thomas Raab.

Fiction
I Rocked Up and Down on the Branch a Bit More by Miklós György Száraz

Two boys, of very different fates, consider friendship and cruelty in this short story by Hungarian writer Miklós György Száraz.

Non-Fiction
Finely Tuned by Árpád Tőzsér

Reflecting on his own poem, Hungarian writer Árpád Tőzsér asks whether we can believe in a Cosmic Orchestra without a conductor?

Fiction
The Eye of the Storm by Viktor Horváth

Father Viktor struggles to contain his rage against Prime Minister Ferenc Ács, until one day he receives a visit from men in suits.