Keynote speech
Smiling Apollo – Giving Voice and Inspiring Hope Through Biblio/Poetry Therapy
Dr. Judit Béres (Hungary), PhD, Associate Professor of the Department of Modern Literary History and Literary Theory, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Pécs (Hungary); lecturer at the University of Verona (Italy) and at the Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary); certified biblio/poetry therapist specializing in therapeutic and reflective writing, teacher of Hungarian and Italian Literature, and PCE certified person-centered counselor. She holds a PhD in Psychology and Dr. habil. in Education. Founder and scientific chief of the 2-year postgraduate special training programme in biblio/poetry therapy at the University of Pécs. She serves as the President of the Hungarian Association for Biblio/Poetry Therapy and is a member of the scientific committe of the journal Poetry Therapy Italia and of the Research Centre “Biblioterapia e Shared Reading: i libri per il benessere” (University of Verona) and of the Lapidus International (UK). She is one of the founders of the European Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy and its journal European Journal for Biblio/Poetry Therapy. She has extensive experience as a facilitator of biblio/poetry therapy for various target groups, including teacher trainees, bibliotherapist trainees, adolescents, young adults, new parents, women, and elderly people. Author and editor of numerous articles and books on reading promotion and biblio/poetry therapy (e.g. Szöveglelő – Találd meg magad az irodalomban! [Bookfinder – Find Yourself in Literature!] Budapest, Libertine, 2023.), Hungarian translator of Nicholas Mazza’s Poetry Therapy: Theory and Practice, 3rd edition (in press). She published two methodological books focusing on biblio/poetry therapy titled: „Azért olvasok, hogy éljek” Az olvasásnépszerűsítéstől az irodalomterápiáig [„I Read to Be Alive” From Reading Promotion to Biblio/Poetry Therapy], Kronosz, 2017.; Élet a sorok között. Irodalomterápia mindenkinek [Life Between the Lines. Biblio/Poetry Therapy for Everybody], Libri, 2022. The Italian translation and publication of the latter will be completed in 2025. She is currently working on a new book on the different modalities of therapeutic writing, including a collection of exercises, to be published in spring 2025.
