Description
Tamasz Wolfstein escaped from Hungary with his parents when he was eight years old. They found refuge in Montreal, and Tamasz, who now goes by Tommy, or Wolfie to his soccer teammates, has become thoroughly Canadianized. His parents will never forget the persecution they endured as Jews in a right-wing Hungary, but Tommy's memories of that time are scant. When his university soccer tea is invited to Hungary to play against the country's top-ranking university team, however, Tommy will learn about his family's difficult past and the ongoing dangers they —and he — face. And when a chance encounter with a bully from his childhood goes horribly wrong, Tommy's life is suddenly in jeopardy.
About the author
Endre Farkas was born in Hungary and is a child of Holocaust survivors. He and his parents escaped during the 1956 uprising and settled in Montreal. His work has always had a political consciousness and has always pushed the boundaries of poetry. Since the 1970s, he has collaborated with dancers, musicians and actors to move the poem from page to stage. Still at the forefront of the Quebec English language literary scene - writing, editing, publishing and performing - Farkas is the author of eleven books, including Quotidian Fever: New and Selected Poems (1974-2007). He is the two-time regional winner of the CBC Poetry "Face Off" Competition. His play, Haunted House, based on the life and work of the poet A.M. Klein, was produced in Montreal in 2009. Farkas has given readings throughout Canada, USA, Europe and Latin America. His poems have been translated into French and Spanish, Hungarian, Italian, Slovenian and Turkish.
Excerpt: Home Game (by (author) Endre Farkas)
Tommy stared out the window as the train departed the station for Debrecen. He saw himself staring back. Even though it was only eleven years ago, it was more than half a lifetime. It was a long time ago, in a world far away where he had passed a childhood that didn’t feel like his, in a language he was no longer fluent in and in a motherland that didn’t feel like home. But here he was.
The land was flat and green with crops as far as he could see. They were divided by fields of sunflowers. What a strange thing to grow, he thought to himself. Other than sunflower seeds, he didn’t know what else they could possibly be good for. Huge heads on such thin stalks. Why didn’t they fall over and snap? Incredible.
Schmutz and Speedy sat down next to him.
“We’re going to pass my grandfather’s town just before we hit Debrecen.” Tommy said. “My father was in a labour camp there.”
“What’s a labour camp?” Schmutz asked.
Tommy thought everyone knew what it was but then realized ‘everyone’ meant Jews. “It’s where Hungarian Jewish men were sent when the war broke out. It was part of the army except they weren’t allowed to carry guns.”
“Why not?”
“Jews were not considered real Hungarians. They weren’t trusted with guns. Instead they were given picks, shovels and brooms. They were given all the shitty work: fixing roads, digging ditches, cleaning latrines. And some, according to my father, were sent to the front and used as mine clearers.”
“What are mine clearers?” Schmutz asked.
"The ones forced to go clear land mines that the enemy planted before they retreated. They had to go find and dismantle them before the regular soldiers advanced. Many of them were blown up.”
“Shit!”
“Does your grandfather still live there?”
Other titles by
Never, Again
Language Matters
Interviews with 22 Quebec Poets
Blood is Blood
The Collected Books of Artie Gold
Quotidian Fever
New and Selected Poems
Worshipful Company of Skinners, In the
Passeport
La PoŽsie Moderne de Langue Anglaise au Canada
Quebec Suite
Poems for and about Quebec
Other Language, The
