Author: Béla Markó and Diana Senechal

Béla Markó (born in 1951 in Kézdivásárhely, Hungary) is a poet, writer, editor, and politician. The author of over thirty books of poetry, essays, and children’s literature, he has also written textbooks and translated Romanian poetry and drama. His poetry collections have been translated into English, French, and Romanian. Diana Senechal (pictured) is the author of Mind over Memes: Passive Listening, Toxic Talk, and Other Modern Language Follies (2018) and Republic of Noise: The Loss of Solitude in Schools and Culture (2012). Her translations of the poetry of Tomas Venclova are featured in his books Winter Dialogue (1997) and The Junction (2008). A member of the ALSCW Council and a Fellow of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, she teaches at the Varga Katalin Gimnázium in Szolnok, Hungary. In addition to teaching, writing, and translating, she serves in a cantorial role at the synagogue Szim Salom in Budapest, plays the cello, memorizes poems in various languages, and takes long bike rides through the Hungarian plains and hills.