ISTVAN TURCZI is a native of the northern small town of Tata. He worked at a number of odd jobs after graduating from high school, from night doorman to chauffeur, eventually gaining admission to the University of Budapest from which he graduated in 1983 with a diploma in Hungarian, English and Finno-Ugric Languages and Literature. Subsequently he worked in the Ministry of Culture and Education before turning to free-lance writing in 1988. Istvan and ANNA PALOS Turczi run the publishing house Parnasszus, producing a quarterly magazine and books by contemporary poets, translators and essayists.