Swimmer Wall Art, Hollán Ernő Street, Budapest, Hungary. Photo courtesy of Simone Dinoia.

The thirteenth installment of our “Literature and Democracy” series was curated by NER international correspondent Ellen Hinsey and features selections from Under a Pannonian Sky: Ten Women Poets from Hungary, edited by Ottilie Mulzet (Seagull Books, December 2025), along with an interview with Mulzet, translator of numerous contemporary Hungarian authors including the 2025 Nobel winner László Krasznahorkai.

Hungarian Women Poets Facing History: A Conversation with Ottilie Mulzet

SIX HUNGARIAN WOMEN POETS
translated by Ottilie Mulzet
ZSUZSA BENEY Fugue / November 1956
ÁGNES GERGELY Pilgrims / Prayer Before Lights Out
MAGDA SZÉKELY The Living / Home
ZSÓFIA BALLA Morning Prayer / Afterwards
ZSUZSA RAKOVSZKY Song About Time
KRISZTINA TÓTH Shadowgrass / The Mouse

Our quarterly “Literature & Democracy” column presents writers’ responses to the threats to democracy around the world.