Literary Journal 2020/1. Attila József

Attila József was born 115 years ago, and his oeuvre opened a new system of reference in the history of Hungarian poetry. The issue summarizes the interpretive traditions of the oeuvre and rethinks its possibilities for reading, listing the poet’s sources of inspiration and the reasons for his extraordinary history of influence. The compilation publishes professional interviews on the lyrical theory and reception history issues of the oeuvre, the relationship between Attila József and psychoanalysis, and the creative psychological connections of the poet's mental illness, as well as the possibilities of biographical research. The studies deal with the poet's conception of art, the classical and light music aspects of the poems, the relationship between poetry and politics, and József Attila's translations. In addition to the analyzes, short essays by contemporary poets can be read about poems and defining encounters with oeuvre. The texts were illustrated with rich fine art material inspired by the poet's poems, as well as contemporary documents, manuscripts and photographs. The issue is a tribute to one of the most brilliant geniuses in literary history, whose works represent the most intimate depths of encounter with poetry for most of us.

From the contents of the issue:

• Interviews: György Tverdota, literary historians Zoltán Kulcsár-Szabó and Antal Bókay, and psychologist Pál Kővágó .
• Studies, essays: Andrea Borbás, Zoltán Fónagy, Ambrus Gönczi, Gergő Balogh, István Fehér M., András Imreh, Dániel Konkoly, Béla N. Horváth, Jenő Alföldy, Dániel Nagy, Sarolta Osztroluczky, Kornélia Horváth, Zoltán Szénási, Éva Bús and Ádám Lang.
• Literary inspirations: Noémi László, István Ágh, László G. István, Zsolt Miklya, Balázs Both, Imre Payer and Ágnes Gergely.
• Further exciting visual material from the manuscripts of József Attila to contemporary artworks, and photos by Gyula Czimbal.