György Faludy

György Faludy (1910 - 2006) was a Hungarian writer, poet and translator. His first major breakthrough came in 1937 when he published his own unique version of François Villon's ballads. His translations of Villon are unlike anything attempted before, which in his own words he called 'rewritings' or 'reinterpretations'. Although he had little regard for either the form or content of the originals, he assured his readers that he had captured the spirit of Villon and his age. Faludy had huge public acclaim, and when the 'rewritings' were published only his harsher critics took him to task, saying that 'they are not ballads but modern chansons intended for cabaret, with literary pretensions'. The Villon ballads were followed by Faludy's own poems, as well as prose writings such as My Happy Days in Hell and Erasmus of Rotterdam, both available in English translation.