The Ab Ovo Publishing House was founded in 1991 by Kati Koller, Gergely Téglásy and Miklós Vámos.

Fourteen years ago our aim was to create a high-quality publishing house which took care of and published belles-lettres written by illustrious contemporary Hungarian and foreign representatives of prose. To create an intellectual workshop and publish the works of those authors who are already known and sought after, as well as to search for new talents, and regularly publish the first volumes of authors. Dóra Esze, Kriszta Bíró and Péter Zilahy are now much sought after by readers around the country.

The increasing number of our readers shows that we are on the right path. Among our regular Hungarian authors are: György Dalos, Ákos Kertész, György Spiró, Dezső Tandori, Miklós Vámos, and from abroad: Thomas Bernhard, Elfriede Jelinek, Andreï Makine, Amos Oz and Jorge Semprun. We are proud to say that Goncourt Prize-winner Andreï Makine’s – whose works are now published in more than thirty countries – international carrier began in Hungary, his first novel that was published abroad was Le Testament Français (A francia hagyaték) by Ab Ovo Publishing House – and was remarkably successful. We are equally pleased to say that Elfriede Jelinek, who received Noble Prize in Literature on October 7. 2004, is also among our foreign writers, her works in Hungarian are solely published by Ab Ovo.

At our request the most prestigious contemporary Hungarian authors embarked on writing fairy tales, thus the first Hungarian fairy-tale anthology: A víziló, Sziporka és Bamba Géza (The hippo, Sziporka and Géza Booby) came into being.
Authors György Faludy, Éva Janikovszky, Miklós Mészöly, Ottó Orbán, Dániel Varró, Miklós Vámos and others took part in this project.

When we come across a Hungarian or foreign manuscript or book which may not be belles-lettres, but we feel it should be published – we do not hesitate to do so. The work of writer-pair Pratkanis-Aronson, the Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion (Rábeszélőgép) has been for many years one of our most successful publications, and is on the recommended or obligatory reading list in several schools, thus is permanently available in bookshops. Likewise, Béla Balázs award-winner, Artist of Merit, director of photography, Gábor Szabó’s remarkably successful Film Book (Filmes könyv) became a recommended reading material, a book written for both prospective and practicing filmmakers.

Judit Pataki
Director of Ab Ovo Publishing House

Our bilingual books: