Meat soup, a mirror and a child protection assessment: Csaba Baranyi's book presented at Romano Kher
Csaba Baranyi, a first-time author who grew up in state care, presented his book Tükörszív 2.0 at the Romano Kher Budapest Roma Cultural Centre. Kriszta Bódis, the member of parliament for the constituency centred on Józsefváros (Budapest's 8th District), was also there. The cultural centre's branch in Józsefváros, the Napház, is on Népszínház utca.
Fotó: Bódis Kriszta Képviselői Irodája – BP 02 OEVK / Facebook, vágva, AI minőségjavítássalThis article was translated from Hungarian. The Hungarian original is the authoritative version. Read the original
The book presentation was reported on the social media page of Kriszta Bódis’s MP office.
According to the report, the book is not simply a personal confession.
The office highlights the teachers, educators and supportive adults who, as they put it, „noticed the curiosity, the sensitivity and the many kinds of talent”. In their view, this is also what makes the difficult subject „a book that gives hope”.
A gesture that says more than the programme
The most noteworthy part of the report is not about the book, but about the building. At the reception, the staff of Romano Kher served the author’s favourite dish: meat soup.
According to the office, the „special beauty” of the evening was the way the community centre built the occasion around the author: „gently, with dignity, with great attention”.
Where does Józsefváros come into this?
The venue of the book presentation, the main building of Romano Kher, is in the 7th District, at Király utca 67. The link to Józsefváros (Budapest’s 8th District) can be seen in two respects.
First, since April 2026 Kriszta Bódis has been the member of parliament for the constituency whose centre is Józsefváros.
Second, the community centre also has a branch in Józsefváros: the Napház at Népszínház utca 31. At the end of the post, the office specifically recommends this to readers’ attention.
About the author
Csaba Baranyi is a first-time author; in the picture accompanying the post he is signing books in the background. The volume is about his years in child protection: the foster care environment, the abuse, and the path by which one can set out from it.
WMN published an interview with the author in March 2024. According to it, he was born with an incurable cardiovascular disease and underwent several operations, and as an infant he was separated from his birth parents, who lived in the Gyöngyöspata settlement and could not afford the cost of treatment. After years in institutions he was placed with foster parents, where, in his own words, he suffered emotional, physical and verbal abuse until the age of ten. He was then transferred to the Károlyi István Children’s Centre in Fót, which he refers to in the interview as a „second chance”.
He began writing his memoir during the pandemic. At the time of the interview, the manuscript was still 350 pages of raw material, on which he was working with the director Kriszta Goda; at that point he was still looking for a publisher and funding for it. That is the book that has now been published.
The full post
Source: Facebook page of Kriszta Bódis’s Member of Parliament Office – BP 02 OEVK. The data on the author’s life come from the WMN interview of 20 March 2024. The details of Napház and Romano Kher are taken from the institution’s official contact information.
