DAVID SZALAY by Literaturfestival Zürich 2026

2026-06-06 12:52:44 UTC

What interests you about characters who are estranged from their own emotions?

2026-06-06 13:57:27 UTC

David Szalay, in Flesh the protagonist seems to embody a very traditional, almost archetypal form of masculinity – physical, taciturn, impulsive, often emotionally opaque. But the novel also seems to resist turning him into a simple sociological case study or a critique of “toxic masculinity.” How did you negotiate that tension while writing: between allowing the character to stand for something larger about masculinity, class, desire or silence, and at the same time protecting him from becoming merely representative – a symbol rather than a person?

2026-06-06 13:58:01 UTC

Warum dieser Mann?

2026-06-09 18:00:34 UTC

Welches Verhältnis haben Sie zu István?

2026-06-29 12:20:34 UTC

Were you surprised that the book has been so widely interpreted as a portrait of masculinity?

2026-06-29 12:20:40 UTC

Is there a moment in the book where István feels most at home in his body?

2026-06-29 13:19:24 UTC

How was the book received in Hungary?

2026-07-02 15:10:35 UTC

Was the ending of the novel planned from the very beginning, or did it evolve alongside the protagonist and the writing process?
When you started your new novel, did you already know that Istvans would be a character with almost non introspection? What were the narrative reasons behind that choice?
How do you see men's relationship with their emotions today? Do you think it has changed over the years, or do many men still find it difficult to talk openly about their feelings?

2026-07-07 08:51:26 UTC

the protagonist shows throughout the book the exact symptoms of someone who has endured child sexual abuse, which did happen to the protagonist. is the book meant to show how child sexual abuse affects men and influences their view of masculinity?

2026-07-07 10:52:37 UTC

We live in an era obsessed with being a winner. But István barely feels like the protagonist of his own life, others keep deciding for him, and even his endurance never earns him a redemptive ending. Was that passivity your way of pushing back against the image of the hero , the winner, we’re so used to seeing?

2026-07-07 17:58:32 UTC

Paulo Freire writes: “Men cannot save themselves (no matter how one understands ‘salvation’) . . . Salvation can be achieved only with others.” Flesh struck me as almost an anti-bildungsroman in that István’s attempt at connection/salvation was frustrated. What does the concept of salvation through meaningful connection mean to you?

2026-07-07 18:00:30 UTC

Is your book being made into a movie? Do you already have a producer?

2026-07-07 18:00:46 UTC

A theme across your books is the feeling of being 'in transit' or not quite at home anywhere, reflecting your own background spanning Canada, the UK, and Hungary. Do you think modern globalization makes it easier or harder for people to truly understand themselves? N.W.

2026-07-07 18:05:11 UTC

What’s something good that happened to you today, besides sitting in the botanical garden?

2026-07-07 18:06:11 UTC

in your mind, what does Istvan look like?

2026-07-07 18:07:15 UTC

You’ve spoken about losing your bank when betting on horses, and about discarding a fully written draft of a novel. Both are a numbers game. Where do you find the mental resilience to go to the well again when you’ve burned through your bank?

2026-07-07 18:07:52 UTC

Was Kubrick's film Barry Lyndon an inspiration for her book?

2026-07-07 18:14:04 UTC

David beszeli a magyar nyelvet?

2026-07-07 18:17:23 UTC

What was the first scene/chapter you wrote?

2026-07-07 18:18:22 UTC

Was the title always going to be 'Flesh' or did you have another working title?

2026-07-07 18:19:32 UTC

Why the title „Flesh“?

2026-07-07 18:20:18 UTC

Did you deliberately chose a hungarian guy as your protagonist, does it have a meaning or could the main character be from another country?

2026-07-07 18:22:58 UTC

Why some characters has name and some doesn’t ? 🤔

2026-07-07 18:29:30 UTC

Can you tell us something about istvan's father. He is absent from the book but seems to fill it at the same time.

2026-07-07 18:49:13 UTC

When you started the book, did you already know what you want it to be about? Was it more about the thought and the message or the story itself?

2026-07-07 18:50:34 UTC

You mention a few times The Open. My question would be; do you play golf?

2026-07-07 19:00:37 UTC

How much did Hungarian culture influence Istvan and the book?

2026-07-07 19:08:50 UTC

Do you read comments about your book online for example on Goodreads? Some people were very critical

And frustrated with Istvan and the way he spoke and kept shrugging his shoulders.

2026-07-07 19:14:42 UTC

What’s a question about the book you’ve always wanted to answer but no one’s asked?

2026-07-07 19:15:40 UTC

Which one is your favourite book of yours - Flesh or another one?

2026-07-07 19:16:25 UTC

Apart from Hamlet, did you have any other literary influences for Flesh?

2026-07-07 19:45:55 UTC

To come back to the theme of ‘what cannot be said,’ what did the process of finding the book’s tone/form of language look like? I was particularly struck by the capacious threaded through its simplicity

2026-07-07 19:48:05 UTC

How did you come up with the idea of structuring Flesh the way it’s structured? Was it planned so from the beginning or did the narrative structure came into being and shaped itself during the writing process? And why did you ultimately decide to go with this exact narrative structure?

2026-07-07 19:50:33 UTC

You did say you didn’t want masculinity to be the defining aspect of this novel… however, this term / concept does resonate with current discourse à lot. So what does the novel actually say about the state of men in 2026?

2026-07-07 19:53:53 UTC

The novel is obviously entirely written in English. Sometimes the characters are obviously not.

What language does Istvan speak with his son. And what language does Jakob speak with his Hungarian grandmother?

2026-07-07 19:54:23 UTC

Is it easier to write about Hungarian things now that the country is cool again? How does shame and pride manifest in this book? #nobel #elections

2026-07-07 19:55:28 UTC

How did you create the part with the blank pages? Was it clear from the beginning, that one cannot express the loss of a child with words? Or was it that you couldn’t find the right words and kind of left it empty?

2026-07-07 19:56:22 UTC

You are sharing a prestigious literary prize with a fellow Hungarian this yeah. Isn’t it a funny coincidence? Is there perhaps some mutual inspiration?

2026-07-07 20:28:22 UTC

why did you decide in your story-telling at the "turning point" that Istvan shouldn't leave Thomas dying? As chapters before, he was quite keen to be a millionaire: why did he not take the enormous chance, to let Thomas dying for his own extremely adventure? Was that a "basic instinct" in Istvan, to act at that point human in a very high level of meaning, against his subjective chances?