“The oeuvre of writer, haiku poet and translator Ferenc Bakos is a special value of 20th-21st century Hungarian literature. His early prose writings, as well as his works published as a member of Péter Esterházy’s generation, also attracted attention. However, the writing of the 17-syllable haiku became the defining value of his oeuvre. His power to create language, his outlook on life and the world, and his shaping of literature as linguistic and intellectual impulses into independent verses in unexpected and astonishing word structures were evident in this text form. At the same time, haiku involved him in a world literary process, the initiator of which was Japanese, but today it will appear in every language system. Through his translations, he is directly connected to the inspiring language. Together with Judit Vihar, a Hungarian researcher of Japanese literature and the initiator of the Hungarian-Japanese haiku poetry anthology, he translated a compilation of selected Japanese haiku. He popularized the art form by within Hungarian literature as well. His works related to Somogyorzág (and the Balaton Uplands) in a motivic formation provide an interesting example of the possibilities of using certain elements of the historical region and the natural landscape in literature.”
Professor emeritus dr. Lajos Sipos, József Attila Prize-winning literary historian, Pázmány Péter Catholic University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Hungarian Literature

“Ferenc Bakos’ creative work of more than half a century is linked to his chosen homeland, Somogy, and within it, Siófok and Lake Balaton. His writings have regularly appeared in the national press and foreign publications as well as in the county’s literary journal, Somogy. His work is of decisive significance from a Somogy perspective. In his haiku, which follow the traditions of classical Japanese haiku, the landscape, which is also the inner world of man, is linked to the four-season Somogy and Lake Balaton. His poetry can be accepted as typical and well-known for Somogy. He has enhanced the reputation of Somogy county, the city of Siófok and Lake Balaton all over the world, from Japan to the United States of America, and has increased its esteem with his work in the field of haiku and prestigious foreign recognition.”    
Dr. Cs. István Varga, József Attila-prize winner, hab. Professor of Literary History, Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Humanities

​

​

(Addition to the Somogy County Treasury: 2022.05.04.)