The EWC shares the hopes of its member assocation Szépírók Társasága – Society of Hungarian Authors in restoring a professional dialogue in order to improve the authors’ rights and working conditions. The EWC fully supports its member in this endeavour!

Therefore we are sharing the

Statement of Szépírók Társasága – Society of Hungarian Authors

ANNOUNCEMENT

The Board of Szépírók Társasága – Society of Hungarian Authors welcome the hopeful changes that took place during last week’s parliamentary elections in Hungary, and wishes the new Hungarian government every success in its work.

Of course, the Society, in accordance with the law of NGO’s operation and the society’s statutes, will continue to represent the interests of the literary profession and the readers as an independent organization.

After the formation of the new government and the cultural cabinet, the Board of the Society, involving all the other literary organizations with a long history, will initiate negotiations with the relevant ministry regarding the taxation rules affecting the cultural sector, the awarding of state literary prizes on a fair, professional basis, and the reconsideration of the cultural financial distribution system.

We express our hope that, unlike the past sixteen years, a professional dialogue between the literary organizations and the newly formed cultural cabinet can be realized.

April 16, 2026, Budapest

Board of Szépírók Társasága – Society of Hungarian Authors

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Statement Ferenc Czinki, president of Szépírók Társasága – Society of Hungarian Authors

I would only add to all of this that I personally do not believe in political revenge. I do not expect that automatically it will be our turn in the new system, and from here on everything will be ours. In fact, I would be the first to say no when it comes to this.

I will continue to stick to what I have done so far: the fair distribution of financial support for the cultural sector. (By the way, there has been a positive change in this regard in the last short period, for example in the case of the National Cultural Fund. Let’s keep what is good, and change what is bad based on professional consensus.)

I wish writers to be able to write and express political opinions freely in Hungary, and book publishers and book distributors to be able to operate freely, without economic and political threats. And we should leave all the rest to the wisdom of the readers.”

Ferenc Czinki, president of Szépírók Társasága – Society of Hungarian Authors

 

pdf: Statement Szépírók Társasága – Society of Hungarian Authors