Katalin Kopasz
Hello, poetry lovers! My name is Katalin Kopasz (also known as Kata). I was born in a small town, located in southeastern Slovakia, in the heart of the Bodrog region, in Kralovsky Chlmec. My native language and culture are Hungarian, and I spent my childhood in the village of Polany.
I graduated from Constantine the Philosopher University in Slovakia, with an MA in Teaching Hungarian Language and Literature, as well as Psychology, in 1997. In the summer academic term of 1995, I had the privilege of studying at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Pécs in southern Hungary (formerly Janus Pannonius University) as an exchange student.
Before I relocated to London in 2009, I met the graduation requirements in postgraduate studies, and I earned a Doctor of Pedagogy degree. My thesis focused on a comparative and analytical study on the plays The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen and Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, in 2008 at J. Selye University (Hungarian: Selye János Egyetem, Slovak: Universita J. Selyeho) in Komárno, Slovakia.
I am a language enthusiast; I believe that communication in multiple languages creates bridges in the process of understanding the world and the surrounding community. I refined my English linguistic abilities in Pitman Training courses in Slovakia and at Nacel English School (formerly Twin Towers English College) in London and London Teacher Training College. In 2011, I became a qualified teacher in England, where I currently teach primary education in London.
In my professional journey, I mastered my understanding of all types of literary genres and styles. During my studies of literature, I was most influenced by the masterpieces of the 19th century written by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy; Charles Dickens's profound observations on Victorian society, poverty, and his humour-filled narratives; the blend of aestheticism and social commentary of Oscar Wilde; and Emily Brontë's linguistically
controlled psychological state of characters. The most significant creators of the 20th century contributed to the formation of my spiritual and ideological world: the Hungarian poetry of Attila József and Endre Ady and novels of Sándor Márai, Magda Szabó, Péter Esterházy, and György Faludy; and exceptional pieces of world literature such as the works of Bohumil Hrabal, Franz Kafka, George Orwell, Jean-Paul Sartre, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, James Joyce, Marcel Proust, and many others.
I am constantly amazed to discover something new: my curiosity is endless in the fields of literature, art, history, as well as acquiring knowledge of the Spanish language. In my spare time, there is nothing that I adore more than walking in nature.
Publication history:
I have been writing poetry in Hungarian since 2003, and I have translated several into English.
My poems are inspired by the unique power of nature, the beauty and mystery of the changing seasons, people’s adaptation to the rapidly changing world, motion and the effects of the micro- and macro-environments that surround me.
The first recognition arrived at the 2B: Benczúr és Bessenyei creative contest, and as the winner of this award, in Nyíregyháza (a city in north-eastern Hungary) in 2007, I became a member of the Irodalmi Rádió in Miskolc (a city in north-eastern Hungary).
Irodalmi Rádió, a Hungarian literary radio, published a number of my poems in written and audiobook form in the Contemporary Poetry Pro Series (Hungarian: Kortárs Verstár Pro-sorozat). The Vision (Hungarian: Vízió) was presented as a prize-winning piece of writing in the anthology, The Value of Thoughts II, 2010 (Hungarian: A gondolatok értéke II, 2010).
The anthology, New Poems for Everyone, for Every Occasion, 2009 (Hungarian: Új versek mindenkinek, minden alkalomra, 2009), includes a short poem, For Graduates (Hungarian: Ballagóknak).
The Hungarian literary and critical journal, Irodalmi Szemle, in Slovakia released my poetry between 2006 and 2011, and the literary, critical and artistic journal, Szőrös Kő, also issued one poem in 2007.
The anthology, Homeland, I Will Always Find You Again, 2021 (Hungarian: Szülőföld, mindig újra megtalállak, 2021), incorporates nine poems.
Translations (Hungarian to English):
1. Lost times ... ("Eltűnt idők ..." translated by Katalin Kopasz) - The Poetry Lighthouse
2. Metamorphosis in autumn – ("Őszi metamorfózis", translated by Katalin Kopasz) - The Poetry Lighthouse
3. fleeting moment – ("röpke pillanat", translated by Katalin Kopasz) - The Poetry Lighthouse