György Spiró

György Spiró studied at Eötvös Loránd University. The recorded working language is Hungarian, Czech and Polish. The field of work recorded is drama, literature and essay. Works named in the authority record are Chickenhead. Distinctions recorded are József Attila Prize, Erzsébet-díj, Déry Tibor Prize and Szép Ernő award.

The son of an engineer from Miskolc in eastern Hungary, he graduated in Hungarian and Slavic literature from the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in 1970, and completed additional studies in journalism and sociology. His earlier career was spent in radio 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 is Csirkefej (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". His avant-garde style, depicting coarse language and characters outside the pale of respectability, often dismayed more traditional Hungarian critics. His book, Az Ikszek (The X-s), which appeared in 1981, is a historical novel about the National Theatre of Poland in the first years of the 19th century, with Wojciech 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 the Roman 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 rewritten Messiások (Messiahs), another historical novel, for which he was awarded the Angelus Award. The hugely successful Tavaszi Tárlat (Spring Exhibition, 2010) describes the early days of the Kádár regime.

• Kerengő (1974) • Az Ikszek (1981) • A Jövevény (1990) • A Jégmadár (2001) • Fogság (2005). Captivity, trans. Tim Wilkinson (2015) • Messiások (2007) • Feleségverseny (2009) • Tavaszi Tárlat (2010) • Diavolina (2015) • Kőbéka. Mesély (2017) • Padmaly (2025)

• 1982 – A békecsászár (Hannibál; Balassi Menyhárt; Kőszegők; Káró király; A békecsászár) • 1987 – Csirkefej (Jeruzsálem pusztulása; Az imposztor; A kert; Esti műsor; Csirkefej) • 1997 – Mohózat (Ahogy tesszük; Legújabb Zrínyiász; Árpádház; Dobardan; Vircsaft; Kvartett) • 2002 – Honderű (Honderű, Fogadó a Nagy Kátyúhoz, Szappanopera, Elsötétítés)

• História (1977)

• Balkan Plots: Plays from Central and Eastern Europe, 2000. Aurora Metro Books.

The authorities additionally record the heading George Spiro. His recorded languages were Hungarian, Czech, Polish and Russian.

György Spiró worked in drama, literature, essay, literary studies and pedagogy. He belonged to Hungarian Writers' Union.

György Spiró is recorded as playwright, university teacher, translator, writer and essayist.