Reading: Bálint Harcos »Naive Pflanze« [Naive Plant]

Bálint Harcos reads from his volume of prose, Naiv Növény/Naive Plant, which appeared in September 2008 in German translation at merz&solitude. It tells of a young man’s attempt to liberate himself from all social and cultural contexts to achieve full freedom and emerge completely anew. In an inner monologue, Harcos’ first-person protagonist – the »naïve plant« – cuts all connections, leaves his family, his love, his values, his morals. In the end, however, the goal of liberating oneself through a radical break stands in stark contrast to the recognition of this plan’s impossibility and senselessness.

With an introduction on contemporary Hungarian literature by novelist and critic László F. Földényi.

This event is a cooperation with the Hungarian Cultural Institute

Bálint Harcos (*1976 in Budapest, Hungary) studied Hungarian language and literature in Budapest from 1994 to 2000. From 1999 to 2000, he was an editor for the literary journal Sárkányü; from 2000 to 2002 he was the publisher of the publication series of the József Attila Circle was well as an editor for the publishing houses Palatinus and Àrkád. His poetry collection Harcos Bálint Összes (collected works of Bálint Harcos) appeared in 2002 through Palatinus publishing in Budapest. Harcos was a Solitude fellow in 2007 in an exchange program for novelists between the Akademie and the József Attila Circle.