A Debreceni Déri Múzeum Évkönyve 2007 (Debrecen, 2008)

Történettudomány és művelődéstörténet - 100 éves a Nyugat, 80 éves az Ady Társaság. 3 beszélgetés Kiss Tamással

THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF NYUGAT AND THE 80

th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADY SOCIETY. THREE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE POET TAMÁS KISS In 2008 we commemorate the 100th anniversary ofthe first issue of the periodical Nyugat, the cradle of modern Hungarian literature, and the 8oth anniversary ofthe establishment ofthe Ady Society, a Debrecenbased association following the liberal spirit of Endre Ady, leading figure of literary modernism. Tamás Kiss (1912-2003), a young student of theology from Debrecen, a new member ofthe Ady Society, influenced by and a worthy heir to the traditions of Nyugat, published his first poems there as a member of the periodical's third generation in the era - in the 1930s - marked by the name of Mihály Babits as chief editor. The third generation of Nyugat clung to Babits's ideal of poetry much more than the preceding, so-called transitional generation, which united the avant-garde and the popular ("népi") movements. On the one hand, Tamás Kiss, with his commitment to the beauty of poetry, polished language and form, was also characterised by aestheticism; yet on the other hand, owing to his ties to Debrecen, there was an air of "provincialism" about him throughout his career. His poetry was powerfully shaped by the landscape and man as part of it. He considered Gyula Illyés, who synthesised the "wilderness" (puszta) and the "wide world", as his model both in the poetic and moral senses. It is partly due to this dual tradition that he is generally respected as a great poet of Debrecen. Besides paying tribute to Nyugat and the Ady society, on the 5th anniversary of Tamás Kiss's death we commemorate one ofthe last persons who served as bridges between the two institutions. For this occasion, we have published the conversations made with him in the Literary Museum of Debrecen, recalling his interesting and wise words - a valuable literary source - about his life, poetry, the influences affecting him, his spiritual predeccesors, the birth of poems and the retrospection of an old-aged man.