Cyclone

(1918 Budapest – 1995 Budapest)

Old movie theaters, coffee houses, swimming pools, tribunes, and football fields make up the “Mándy universe.” Mándy dropped out of high school.

His first novellas were published by Magyarság (Hungarianness) and Tükör (Mirror). During the war, he worked as a sports reporter. Between 1949 and 1957, he lost any opportunity to publish (as did many other writers). During this time, he created dramatizations and children’s radio plays for the Hungarian Radio and he held literary lectures in the largely rural parts of Hungary for the Cultural Center (1950–1954).

In 1954, he began working as a freelance writer. In 1989, he became a member of the editing committee of Holmi (Whatnot). In 1990, he became the chairman of the György Rónay Prize Board of Trustees. In 1991, he became member of the Budapest Magistrate, and in 1992, he was elected to serve as vice president of the Széchenyi Academy of Letters and Arts.

He was the renovator of the novella; he used various techniques to free the time and space ratio of narratives from the constraints of traditional presentation. In his epics, he used methods from film (cuts, fades) and lyrical portrayals: the poetic image became the starting point of visions, memories, and fantasies. His manner of portrayal daringly moved away from direct reality towards surreal, absurd perception of the world. In his classic children’s books, distinctive landscapes and figures of Budapest come to life from a mix of reality and fantasy.