My Secret Life

Born in 1967, Krisztina Tóth is one of the most popular and best known Central European authors, and the recipient of numerous awards. She studied sculpting and literature in Budapest, spending two years in Paris during her university years. She has published nine books of poetry and ten books of prose to date as well as 24 books for children. In 2015, her novel Aquarium featured on the shortlist of the German Internationaler Literaturpreis. Her work has been been translated into 25 languages; her novels, short stories and poems can be read in German, French, English, Polish, Finnish, Swedish, Czech and Spanish, among others. Her bestselling short novel The Monkey’s Eyes was published in Hungary in 2023; an English translation is forthcoming from Seven Stories Press in the US. Her children’s books treat topics considered unusual, even taboo, in children’s literature. Mum Had an Operation explains cancer to schoolchildren in a humorous and lyrical tone, while the main characters in A Story for Nose-Blowers are two members of the ‘Snot family’ who live in the right and the left cavity of a nose. The Girl Who Wouldn’t Talk was inspired by the story of her own adopted daughter. Her musical Wanderer of the Years explains passing and letting go to children, whereas Pokémon Go and The Rubber Bat are for adults.Her plays include The Bat, published in English translation in the compilation Plays from Contemporary Hungary: ‘Difficult Women’ and Resistant Dramatic Voices (Bloomsbury, 2023). Two collections of her short stories have also been published in English translation, Pixel (Seagull Books, 2019) and Barcode (Jantar Publishing, 2023). Her work was featured in the anthology New Order: Hungarian Poets of the Post 1989 Generation (Arc Publications, 2010). The first book of her poetry in English translation, My Secret Life: Selected Poems, translated by George Szirtes, is published by Bloodaxe in 2025.

• 11 Introduction by George Szirtes21 East European Triptych [SP]24 Sleeper [V]26 River of Sounds [V]29 Lover’s Dream [ML]31 Tyrannosaurus Rex [V]33 Tourist [V]37 Send Me a Smile [P]39 Dog [V]41 Barrier [V]42 New Year’s Eve [P]43 Folder [P]44 Ode to Men of Fifty [P]45 Gumtree [B]47 Where [B]48 Valley Road [B]50 Song of the Secret Life [V]52 Universal Adaptor [V]55 Time, time, time [V]57 How Are You All? [V]58 Duration [V]60 Camera [V]61 Twenty Lines with a Cat [B]62 Hourglass [V]63 Sunday [V]65 Fig Tree [V]66 Cold Weather [V]67 Homeward [U]68 Dodo [U]70 Oven Glove [U]72 Any Country in the World [V]74 The Student [V]76 Rainy Summer [V]This book presents a selection of her poems made by Krisztina Tóth for George Szirtes to translate, taken from five collections published by Magvető Kiadó in Budapest: Porhó (Dust, 2001), Síró ponyva (Weeping awning, 2004), Magas labda (High ball, 2009), Világadapter (Universal adaptor, 2016) and Bálnadal (Whalesong, 2021). The poems ‘Homeward’, ‘Dodó’ and ‘Oven Glove’ are previously unpublished in Hungarian in book form. In the contents list the initials [P], SP], [V], [ML] and [B] – or [U] for uncollected – indicate which of these collections each poem comes from.

Select Guide Rating