Budapest’s 1,000 Words

Playwright György Spiró and Ambassador Koulanakis listen on during last year’s award ceremony at AISB (photo: AISB).

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A picture is worth a thousand words, but one thousand words can draw quite a picture.

The American International School of Budapest, Hungary (AISB) established a national, English-language Short Story Writing competition in 2006, and it has been growing ever since.

In this fifth edition, over 350 entries were received, representing more than 30 schools from all over Hungary. The winners in each category received a monetary award, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Hungary. “The quality of the submissions we received was very impressive,” said Doug Rudnicki, founder and organizer of the contest.

A crowd of students and parents were in attendance to hear excerpts from the winning stories. Ingenuity and eloquence were on full display. The audience also heard inspiring words from American Ambassador Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, who praised all in attendance for their efforts. Yvonne Schuchmann, from the Hungarian Ministry of Education, was also on hand to congratulate all participants.

The contest has attracted several literary icons over the years, with the likes of Békés Pál and Konrád György as keynote speakers. This year, acclaimed Hungarian playwright and novelist György Spiró did the honors. “Telling stories and listening to them are possibly the greatest spiritual joys we have,” remarked Spiró.

“A good story is a good story, full of experience, of knowledge about human nature, without being didactic, without being kitschy. We must read a lot, and learn how to make a story interesting, if we wish to become authors.”

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