An inventive collection of stories by one of the most prominent and acclaimed writers in Hungary today.
 
The Birth of Emma K., a collection of twelve short stories rich with magic, introduces English-language readers to one of the most vibrant and original voices in contemporary Hungarian literature. Zsolt Láng’s new collection opens with God sitting on a bench looking over Budapest; later, a Hungarian man who has stumbled into a Romanian music theory class suddenly finds he is able to speak expertly about Hungarian composer Béla Bartok—and in perfect Romanian; and even later, against all odds, the embryo of Emma fights for her future life from within the womb. Drifting between melancholic and witty, in sentences that are winding, subtle, and colloquial, Láng’s stories are deeply rooted in Transylvanian culture and history. Reminiscent of the best writings of Irish modernist masters such as Samuel Beckett and Flann O’Brien, The Birth of Emma K. presents an unforgettable collage of human nature.

Zsolt Láng is a Hungarian author, essayist, playwright, and editor from Transylvania, Romania. He has published five short-story collections and five novels and one work of criticism. His most recent novel Bolyai won the 2020 Libri Literary Prize, one of Hungary’s most prestigious literary awards. Owen Good is a Northern Irish translator of Hungarian poetry and prose. Ottilie Mulzet was awarded the National Book Award for Translated Literature for her translation of László Krasznahorkai’s Baron Wenckheim’sHomecoming in 2019.

1. God on Gellért Hill
2. Daphne
3. Chestnut
4. Like a Shaggy Ink Cap Mushroom
5. At the Western Gate
6. Open Lesson
7. The Story of Money
8. Loneliness
9. Before Midnight
10. Madhouse
11. The Cloister of Sanctuary
12. The Birth of Emma K.