Language/Literature paper by Hargitai, Peter J.
A Return to Humanism: The Poetry of Zoltán Böszörményi
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
Focusing on his latest volume of poems, The Conscience of Trees, the paper unearths the humanist elements in Zoltán Böszörményi’s poetic terrain. The poet’s erudite ruminations evoke the classics of antiquity and transcend the limitations of an exclusively ethnic identity. His voice, at once serene and keenly metaphysical, soars beyond the nets nationalism, revolutionary fervor, and religious obeisance. The poems echo the words of the greatest Hungarian humanist Janus Pannonius: “Költő és hivő nem férnek össze” (‘Poet and believer abide not together’).
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Peter Hargitai is Poet Laureate of Gulfport, Florida. The retired FIU professor and human rights activist
is an Academy of American Poets Landon Prize translator of Hungarian literature. He and his book Daughter of the Revolution are the subjects of an award-winning documentary directed by Tünde Tálas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hargitai