Attila József and Mihály Babits first met in 1923. Babits was a celebrated poet of his time, József had just published his first book of poems on top of those that had appeared in journals. The two met at the birthday party of Gyula Juhász, another poet of the time, a mentor of József. Babits did not pay much attention to József, memoirs recall.

In 1928, Babits, then chief editor of literary journal Nyugat, gave office hours in his apartment. József, who had had two of his poems published in Nyugat by that time, visited him there. They argued about Benedetto Croce’s Aesthetics, where Babits closed the argument by saying József had yet a lot to learn.

On 1 December 1929, László Németh, another author, contributed to Nyugat a scathing review about Attila József’s third book of poems, Got No Father, No Mother, published on 17 February the same year in Nyugat . József harboured resentment at Babits, claiming that as editor-in-chief of the periodical, he must have approved of the criticism. This led to a conflict between the two.

In return, József published a review of Babits’s book Gods Die, but Man Lives, claiming Babits has yet to learn a lot.

The two would not talk to each other for 2 years.

In the summer of 1933, a poem called Self-digesting was written to find a poetic way to close their conflict.

In 1936 József was nominated for the Baumgarten literary prize. The periodical Reggel published his poem “I did not know” with the epigraph “Homage to Mihály Babits.” Babits, president of the Baumgarten Prize Committee, to prevent any criticism of flattery as a prerequisite for the prize, removed József from the list of winners. József was rewarded but left without the prize, just as in 1935. He was eventually awarded the prize in 1938, posthumously, a year after his premature death in 1937.

Our production describes the two major poets’ relation by means of their poems, reviews of their poems, and through correspondence and memoires.

Actors: Viktor Dénes and Ádám Farkas

We find experiential learning important when we bring literature to students. We have created our production with a view to give a comprehensive picture of the intellectual life of the time through the works and conflicts of these two important authors. At the same time, we also aimed to reflect on failure and resentment, the darker aspects of human life, which are present in every age.

Consultant: Balázs Barták

Length: approx. 45 mins..

Please contact us if you are interested.