Katalin Ladik

Katalin Ladik (born Újvidék, 25 October 1942) is a Hungarian poet, performance artist and actress. She was born in Újvidék, Kingdom of Hungary (today Novi Sad, Serbia), and in the last 20 years she has lived and worked alternately in Novi Sad, in Budapest, Hungary and on the island of Hvar, Croatia. Parallel to her written poems she also creates sound poems and visual poems, performance art, writes and performs experimental music and audio plays. She is also a performer and an experimental artist (happenings, mail art, experimental theatrical plays). She explores language through visual and vocal expressions, as well as movement and gestures. Her work includes collages, photography, records, performances and happenings in both urban and natural environments.

Biography

Katalin Ladik studied at the Economic High School of Novi Sad between 1961 and 1963. She then joined the Dramski Studio (Drama Studio) acting school in Novi Sad, between 1964 and 1966. Between 1961 and 1963, she worked as a bank assistant. During this time, in 1962, she began to write poetry. From 1963 to 1977 she worked for Radio Novi Sad. She joined the newly established Novi Sad Theatre in 1974, becoming a member of its permanent ensemble in 1977 and working there until 1992. She primarily acted in dramatic roles. Over the years, she also played major and minor roles in various TV-films and movies. She led the poetry sections of literary magazines Élet és Irodalom (1993–94) and Cigányfúró (1994–99). Between 1993 and 1998 she taught at Hangár musical and theatrical education center.

She is a member of the Hungarian Writers' Union, the Hungarian Belletrists Association, the Association of Hungarian Creative Artists and the Hungarian PEN Club.

Awards Katalin Ladik has earned various awards, including the Award (1991), the award of Mikes Kelemen Kör (Mikes International – Association for Hungarian Art, Literature and Science in the Netherlands) (2000), the József Attila Prize (2001), the Mediawave Parallel Culture Award (2003), the National Award for Culture of the Republic of Serbia (2009), and the Laurel Wreath Award of Hungary (2012).

Katalin Ladik has earned various awards, including the Kassák Lajos Award (1991), the award of Mikes Kelemen Kör (Mikes International – Association for Hungarian Art, Literature and Science in the Netherlands) (2000), the József Attila Prize (2001), the Mediawave Parallel Culture Award (2003), the National Award for Culture of the Republic of Serbia (2009), and the Laurel Wreath Award of Hungary (2012).

In 2015, she received the Klára Herczeg Award in senior category from the Studio of Young Artists’ Association (Hungary).

In 2016, she was awarded with the Lennon Ono Grant for Peace.

Her awards for acting include the Oktobarska nagrada grada Novog Sada (October Award of the City of Novi Sad), a collective award to the cast of Radio Novi Sad in 1967; first place at Smotra vojvođanskih profesionalnih pozorišta (Festival of Professional Theatres in Vojvodina) in 1978, for the role of Masha in Three Sisters, directed by György Harag, performed at the Novi Sad Theatre. The same role earned her the first place of Udruženje dramskih umetnika Srbije / Association of Dramatic Artists of Serbia, in 1979. Katalin Ladik also received the Magyar Televízió Elnöki Nívódíja / Award of the President of Hungarian Television for Acting Excellence for acting in András Rajnai’s TV film series, Televíziós mesék felnőtteknek (Television Tales for Adults) in 1980. In 1986, she was awarded first place at Smotra vojvođanskih profesionalnih pozorišta / Festival of Professional Theaters in Vojvodina for the role of Skinner in Howard Barker’s The Castle, directed by David Gothard, performed at the National Theatre in Subotica.

2017 Artisjus Literary Award for her poetry volume „A víz emlékezete” („The Memory of Water”)

2017 Janus Pannonius Filius Ursae Award for her literary oeuvre for „being defiant, provocative, and confrontational towards the actual literary canons”

2019 Ferencváros Pro Urbe Award

2020 „My Country” () Award in recognition of her lifetime achievement

2021 Medal of culture for lifetime achievement, i.e. for overall creativity/work awarded by Miloš Crnjanski Centre

2021 Novi Sad" International Literary Award, which is awarded by the 16th International Novi Sad Literary Festival organized by the Society of Writers of Vojvodina

2021 Literary Prize Bernard Heidsieck awarded by Centre Pompidou for her work as a whole in experimental poetry

2022 Hungarian Order of Merit Officer's Cross, one of the highest Orders in Hungary

2022 Prize in Fiction (Poetry) category of the Society of Hungarian Authors

2022 Alföld Literary Prize

Poetry

Katalin Ladik became known after 1962 through her surreal and erotic poems. In addition to a number of books in Hungarian, volumes of her poetry were published in Yugoslavia, France, Italy and the United States. Her poems also appeared in various magazines and anthologies worldwide, translated into Spanish, German, Polish, Bulgarian, Slovakian, Hindi, Chinese, Indonesian, Romanian, Macedonian, Rusyn and Slovenian.

Prose

Her first novel, entitled Élhetek az arcodon? (Can I Live on Your Face?) was published in 2007 by Nyitott Könyvműhely. It is considered to be an eminent work in Hungarian avant-garde literature. It is partly autobiographical, partly self-reflecting. The novel alternates between reality and fiction, prose and poetry, sometimes switching to a prose poem style. Its main target audience is that part of the artists’ community who are receptive to esoteric allusions. The book is about three women: the Editor, who lives in Budapest, the Artist, and the Glasswoman who lives in Novi Sad, all of whom bear the same name. The shared name determines their lives. Initially, they are unaware of one another, but throughout the book their lives get gradually intertwined. After they get to know one another, they begin to live each other's life, which changes everything for them forever. One of the peculiarities about the book is the uniquely rich textual documentation (letters, newspaper articles, posters) and the large number of photos.

Publications

Audiobooks 2020: Liquid mirror (Folyékony tükör) presented by Vera Sípos 00:00:00 – Folyékony tükör 1; 00:55:47 – Folyékony tükör 2 Audiobooks by contemporary authors published online by DIA, the Digital Literature Academy of PIM

Discography

Sound poetry Ballada az ezüstbicikliről (The Ballad of the Silver Bicycle) | SP | supplement for book with same title | Forum, Novi Sad, 1969 Phonopoetica | SP | Galerija Studentskog kulturnog centra, Belgrade, 1976 Poésie Sonore Internationale (International Sound Poetry) | audio cassette | anthology of sound poetry, Paris, 1979 La Nouvelle Revue d’Art Moderne, Special 2. (The Magazine of Modern Art) | audio cassette | Rencontres Internationales de Poésie Sonore (International Sound Poetry Festival), Paris, 1980 Adriano Spatola: Baobab Femme | audio cassette | anthology for sound poetry magazine, Publiart Bazar Reggio Emilia, 1982 Yugoslavian Sound Poetry | audio cassette | anthology of sound poetry, 1987 Hangár / Hangar | audio cassette | anthology of sound poetry, Amsterdam – Budapest, 1987 Aki darazsakról álmodik (Who is Dreaming About Wasps) | LP | recording of the radio play "Furcsa, aki darazsakról álmodik" (Strange Is the One Who Is Dreaming About Wasps) | Radio Novi Sad, 1988 Spiritus Noister: Nemzeti zajzárványok / National Noise-Inclusions | audio cassette | Bahia Music, Budapest, 1996

Katalin Ladik

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