Zsófia Balla (born 15 January 1949) is a Romanian-born Hungarian poet and essayist. She is considered to be one of the most prominent female poets in Hungary.

Biography

Balla was born in the Romanian city of

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

to ethnic Hungarian parents. Her father was a writer and her mother a German teacher. She studied music (violin) at the Cluj Academy of Music, graduating in 1972. After divorcing her first husband, she married the poet

Csaba Báthori Csaba () is a Hungarian given name for males. Prince Csaba is the legendary son of Attila the Hun in Hungarian chronicles.''Gesta Hungarorum'', Simon Keza, Edited and translated by László Veszprémy and Frank Schaer with a study by Jenő Szűc ...

in 1997. After publishing her first poems in the journal ''Igaz Szó'' in 1965, her first collection of poetry ''A dolgok emlékezete'' (Memories of Things) was published in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

in 1968. From 1972, she worked in the Hungarian department of the Cluj radio station as music editor until the station was closed in 1985. Thereafter, she worked as a journalist for the national Romanian newspaper ''Elore'' and as literary editor for two weekly magazines. In 1990, she became a member of the Hungarian Writers Association and in 1992 she joined the editorial board of the Hungarian literary magazine ''Jelenkor''. Since 1993, she has been living in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary.

Awards

Considered to be one of the most prominent women poets in Hungary, she has received many awards, including the Romanian Writers Association Prize (1984 and 1991) and the Hungarian

Attila József Prize The Attila József Prize is an annually awarded Hungarian literary prize for excellence in the field of belles-lettres. It was first presented in 1950 in honour of the poet Attila József. Another major Hungarian literary prize is the Kossuth Prize. ...

in 1996. In 2008, she became a Laureate of the Hungarian Republic (''Magyar Köztársaság Babérkoszorúja'').

Selected works

Balla has published the following collections of poetry: *1968: ''A dolgok emlékezete'', Irodalmi és Művészeti Kiadó, Bucharest *1971: ''Apokrif ének'', Kriterion, Bucharest *1975: ''Vízláng versek'', Kriterion, Bucharest *1980: '' Második személy'', Kriterion, Bucharest *1983: ''Kolozsvári táncok, Kriterion, Bucharest *1985: ''Hóka fóka fióka'' (nursery rhyme), Kriterion, Bucharest *1991: ''A páncél nyomai'', Kriterion, Bucharest, 1991 *1993: ''Egy pohár fű'', Jelenkor, Pécs *1995: ''Ahogyan élsz'', Jelenkor, Pécs *1997: ''Triangulum, avagy száz ördög közt három szentek'' (poetry for puppets), Seneca, Budapest *2002: ''A harmadik történet'', Jelenkor, Pécs, *2009: ''A nyár barlangja'', Budapest, Kalligram Kiadó

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balla, Zsofia 21st-century Hungarian poets Hungarian essayists Hungarian women essayists 1949 births Living people Writers from Cluj-Napoca Hungarian women poets 20th-century Romanian women writers 21st-century Romanian women writers 20th-century Hungarian poets 20th-century essayists 21st-century essayists 20th-century Hungarian women writers 21st-century Hungarian women writers Attila József Prize recipients