Krisztina Tóth in conversation with Lucy Popescu - Islington

Join us with Krisztina Tóth in conversation with Lucy Popescu to discuss Eye of the Monkey, a deftly woven dystopian novel full of twists, turns and treachery which plumbs the depths of a fractured, disturbed and isolated society and the social perversions such a society produces.A bitingly funny satire of a totalitarian state, Eye of the Monkey begins in the wake of a devastating civil conflict that led to the formation of the United Regency, an autocracy in an unnamed but very familiar European country. The ravages of war are sweeping, and the population has been divided into segregated zones, with the wealthy under mass surveillance and the poor phantom presences, confined and ghettoised. On the verge of a nervous breakdown after being stalked for weeks, Giselle, a history professor, seeks the help of Dr Mihaly Kreutzer, a psychiatrist who is navigating divorce and the recent death of his mother. They soon begin a torrid love affair, but Mihaly has sinister motives of his own.

Krisztina Tóth is one of Hungary's best-known writers. Her short-story collection Barcode was a finalist for the 2024 EBRD Literature Prize and her poetry book My Secret Life was published in 2025. Eye of the Monkey (Seven Stories Press UK) is her first novel to be published in English, translated by Ottilie Mulzet.

Lucy Popescu worked with English PEN for over 20 years and was Director of its Writers in Prison Committee from 1991-2006. She is currently chair of the Authors’ Club. Lucy is the editor of two anthologies: A Country to Call Home and A Country of Refuge, collections of writing on refugees and asylum seekers by some of Britain and Ireland’s finest writers. She is also a critic who contributes regularly to The Observer, Financial Times, TLS and other publications.