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György (George) Spiró (born 4 April 1946 inBudapest) is a dramatist, novelist and essayist who has emerged as one of post-warHungary's most prominent literary figures. He is a member of theSzéchenyi Academy of Literature and Arts.
The son of an engineer fromMiskolc in eastern Hungary, he graduated in Hungarian and Slavic literature from theEötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in 1970, and completed additional studies in journalism and sociology. His earlier career was spent inradio journalism. More recently, in addition to his writing, he has been employed as associate professor at the Department of World Literature and currently at the Institute of Art Theory and Media Studies at ELTE.
His plays have won numerous awards, including several for best Hungarian drama of the year. A few of them are available in English translation. The best known one isCsirkefej (Chickenhead, 1986), an earthy and bitter drama of a young delinquent's disillusionment at the longed-for reunion with his drunken father.Dramatic Exchange said it was "widely considered to be the most important Hungarian play of the last 20 years".[citation needed]
Hisavant-garde style, depicting coarse language and characters outside the pale of respectability, often dismayed more traditional Hungarian critics.[citation needed]
His book,Az Ikszek (The X-s), which appeared in 1981, is a historical novel about theNational Theatre of Poland in the first years of the 19th century, withWojciech Bogusławski as the main character. The novel is about the fight of the artists against censorship.
In 2005, he published an 800-page novel,Fogság (Captivity). Set in theRoman Empire in the time of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, it follows the experiences of a Jewish wanderer named Uri. Spiró's earlier works eschewed Jewish themes, but in this work he returns to his ancestral roots.
In 2007, he published the rewrittenMessiások (Messiahs), another historical novel, for which he was awarded theAngelus Award.[1]
The hugely successfulTavaszi Tárlat (Spring Exhibition, 2010) describes the early days of theKádár regime.[citation needed]
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