Never, Again

Never, Again is Tomi’s journey ? physical, emotional and symbolic ? from innocence to experience, to understanding and freedom. The story chronicles his adventures and experiences in the months leading up to and during the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Although most of the narrative is from his perspective, there are interwoven flashbacks to his parents’ World War II experiences?of labour and concentration camps, of survival and escape. Never, Again is loosely based on Farkas’s and his parents’ experiences during this tumultuous time.

By no means a black and white story, Never, Again takes place on a number of levels. It is about the complexities of being a child during turbulent times. It is about faith, prejudice, ignorance, hate and nationalism, as well as kindness, loyalty, hope and courage.

Farkas calls his novel Never, Again because the phrase has resonance. Originally, it was a response to what was done to the Jews in World War II. It has since become a universal declaration to not allow such atrocities to happen to any other ethnic, cultural, religious, or political group. “Never again” is civilization’s response against man’s barbarous nature. It reminds us that we have to be ever vigilant because, as we continue to see, these kinds of horrors can and do happen over and over again. This is why Farkas inserted a comma between “Never” and “Again”?to bring attention to this truth. The title is both a call for vigilance and a warning.

Never, Again is a timely and timeless story. It is timely because 2016 is the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian uprising and the current rise of right wing nationalism. It is timeless because the desire to survive against our darker nature is eternal. And these stories must be told as a way of dealing with this darker nature.

Endre Farkas was born in Hungary and is a child of Holocaust survivors. He and his parents escaped during the 1956 uprising and settled in Montreal. His work has always had a political consciousness and has always pushed the boundaries of poetry. Since the 1970s, he has collaborated with dancers, musicians and actors to move the poem from page to stage. Still at the forefront of the Quebec English language literary scene - writing, editing, publishing and performing - Farkas is the author of eleven books, including Quotidian Fever: New and Selected Poems (1974-2007). He is the two-time regional winner of the CBC Poetry “Face Off” competition. His play, Haunted House, based on the life and work of the poet A.M. Klein, was produced in Montreal in 2009. Farkas has given readings throughout Canada, USA, Europe and Latin America. His poems have been translated into French and Spanish, Hungarian, Italian, Slovenian and Turkish.