Réka Nyitrai
Réka Nyitrai is a spell, a sparrow, a lioness’s tongue—a bird nest in a pool of dusk. She is the recipient of a Touchstone Distinguished Books Award for 2020 for her debut haiku volume While Dreaming Your Dreams (Mono Ya Mono Books, 2020). Her debut full-length poetry collection, Moon flogged, will be out in September 2024 with Broken Sleep Books.
Excuse me, do you speak the language of butterflies?
From the shape and color of your hat I conclude that you do.
For me, the act of writing poetry is a form of world making. Through my poems I both remake my past and also cast a spell on my future. I am practicing a kind of surreal myth-making and foretelling. As a child I longed to be either a witch or bird: poetry affords an alternative landscape for all my unlived selves.
January 28, 2024