ZSIGMOND MÓRICZ READING MARATHON – MORE THAN 22000 POEPLE READ OUT WORLWIDE

The 6^th reading marathon started on the 18^th of February, 2014, at 9 o’clock in the morning in the lecture hall of the Kájoni János County Library of Harghita. The works of the great Hungarian writer, Zsigmond Móricz, were read in the honor of his 135^th birth anniversary. More than 22000 people read out worldwide on that day proving, that reading connects people. Our data is not eventual yet, based on the check-ins and reports, we are going to post the summarized details on our website in the following days. We are thankful to the organizers of the marathon and all the participants for the joy of reading!

An exhibition was made of Zsigmond Móricz’s works on this occasion in the lecture hall of the library, which is the main locale of the marathon. The participants of the marathon were greeted by Consul Gábor Szarka on the behalf of the Hungarian Consulate. First of all, István Ferenczi, who is a Sándor Petőfi- and an Attila József – Award winner poet, read out Zsigmond Móricz’s so called A köszöntő writing. He was followed by the next reader, László Balog, who is the library director of the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania. The rich Móricz-oeuvre had been read out during the day, from the stories addressed to the children to short stories and novels. The characters from the writer’s fables came alive as the so called local theatre, the Csíki Játékszín read them out in their lovely way of reading. Other classes had arrived during the morning, the 6-7^th grade students of the Nagy Imre Elementary School read Móricz’s short stories, who were followed by the 5^th grade students of the Nagy István High School of Arts. Early in the afternoon, the 6-7^th grade students of the Segítő Mária Roman Catholic High School continued with the reading along with their teacher, Ibolya Farkas, evoking the main character of the Be Faithful Unto Death, Misi Nyilas, but we could also hear fragments from his other narratives. In the afternoon, mostly the adults had read out. From 5 o’clock in the afternoon, the co-workers of the Hungarian Consulate had been also reading out, who arrived to the marathon along with Gábor Szarka.

It was a great experience to see the participants arriving one after another, who had already chosen their arbitrary text at home. Besides the writer’s well-known novels, such as the Be Faithful Unto Death, the Pillangó, Sárarany, Életem regénye, Erdélyi trilógia, A Boldog ember, his other lesser-known novels were read as well, e.g. A fecskék fészkek raknak, Muki, Az ágytakaró, but we had also read fragments from his Diary during the day.

2039 people read out on thirteen locales of Csíkszereda, in the library a total of 180 people had been reading out until 7 o’clock in the evening. Other schools, kindergartens, cultural institutions and associations had also joined the marathon (the József Attila Elementary School joined with 720, the total number of its students). 2186 people read out in Székelyudvarhely and from the settlements of Harghita county more than 11000 people joined to read.

From more than 140 settlements in thirteen countries applied to join, furthermore, nearly 17000 people from 93 settlements and 13 counties in Transylvania joined to read out. We read on several locations of Székely Land, including the remote dispersal areas, Székelyudvarhely, Transcarpathia, High Land, but also in Budapest, Germany, Sweden and London. We managed to spread the joy of reading beyond the ocean, they read out in the USA, Canada, Mexico and in South Africa as well.

We are going to post the details after the summarization on the website of the Kájoni János County Library of Harghita.