Butterfly, Stone, Knife

By Pál Dániel Levente

₹225.00In stock

Pál Dániel Levente feels: there are three kinds of poetry, three kinds of poets, and three kinds of poems.

The butterfly: the poet who transforms from a caterpillar into a butterfly—whose work is filled with beauty, aesthetic harmony, and wonder at the world’s splendor. The stone: When the poet writes, it is as if they pick up a stone and hurl it into a lake called Society. The stone makes an impact: it breaks the surface, creates ripples and reverberations above and below. And, the knife: This poetry addresses brutal, unforgiving truths—whether personal, political, or social. It speaks of injustice, cruelty, the machinery of oppression, of the humiliated and impoverished, of domestic violence, of human suffering in all its rawness. The three forms constitute, not a hierarchy but a spectrum. As for which category my poems inhabit — butterfly, stone, or knife — my readers are the best judge.

About the Author

Pál Dániel Levente

Pál Dániel Levente has authored eight books in Hungarian, and works of his have been translated into more than 20 languages. He cofounded and served as deputy editor-in-chief of the art magazine and publishing house PRAE. He was also the editor-in-chief of ELTE University Press, and served as a managing director of the Hungarian Petőfi Cultural Agency and Literary Fund, where he was executive director of the English-language Continental Literary Magazine. He spent a decade as a performer and director at various independent theater and performing arts groups. He is currently the dramaturg and show writer and librettist at the Capital Circus of Budapest–where he has contributed to more than 60 productions, including work for the Budapest International Circus Festival –, and dramaturg for theatrical concerts of the Gödöllő Symphony Orchestra. He is a frequent guest at international literary and poetry festivals, as well as academic conferences. He has received numerous literary, artistic, and professional awards in Hungary, Brazil, France, Romania, Serbia, Azerbaijan, and the United States.

WEB: https://paldaniel.wordpress.com