Book excerpt: How many playwrights, novelists, philosophers, artists, composers, performers, filmmakers and critical thinkers influenced Samuel Beckett? And how profound has Beckett’s impact been on creative artists worldwide, who have responded to the stimulus of his work using every available medium, from theatre and television, through opera and contemporary art, to the internet and virtual reality? This book approaches these two questions. With contributions from eight countries, this volume emerges from the first Beckett conference to be held in Hungary. It captures the international, experimental, and collaborative spirit of the Samuel Beckett Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research.