István Domonkos

István Domonkos

ISTVÁN DOMONKOS was born in 1940 in Zmajevo (in Hungarian: Ókér). He studied in Subotica (Szabadka) and Novi Sad (Újvidék), worked as a jazz musician, and was an outstanding member of the generation of writers gathered around the periodical Új Symposion. One of the most prominent writers of the Hungarian minority in Serbia, István Domonkos earned a well established reputation in Hungary and in other countries as well. His best known poem Rudderless is considered to be one of the most powerful Hungarian poems in the second half of the 20th century. His work has been translated into 15 languages. István Domonkos was awarded with the József Attila and Híd Prizes. He has been living in Sweden since 1979.

RUDDERLESS

Rudderless (Kormányeltörésben, 1971) is one of the truly great Hungarian poems written by my generation. Yet, it is hardly known by the wider public either in Hungary or internationally. István Domonkos already lived up North with his Swedish wife at the time of writing, making his living as a tennis