Eva Banki

Eva Banki is an Associate Professor at the Department of Ancient and Classical Hungarian Literature, Institute of Hungarian Language, Literature and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary. Previously, she served as a Lecturer at ELTE BTK (Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Arts). Her academic career spans medieval literature, world literature, and creative writing.

Banki earned her PhD in Romance studies/world literature from ELTE BTK in 1999 with a dissertation titled "Lyrical temporal relations in Provençal troubadour poetry." She completed her MA in Hungarian language and literature – Portuguese language and literature at ELTE BTK in 1991-92. She has advanced proficiency in Portuguese, intermediate in German, and reading comprehension in Spanish, Italian, and French.

Her research focuses on medieval literature, particularly Provençal troubadour poetry, world literature, and creative writing. She has made significant contributions to the study of hard-boiled crime fiction in Hungarian literature and courtly literature. Her scholarly work explores themes of identity, time, cultural memory, and political discourse across historical periods and literary traditions, bridging medieval studies with contemporary literary analysis.

Banki's recent publications demonstrate a scholarly trajectory examining Arthurian legends, chivalric romances, and medieval poetry while engaging with modern Hungarian authors like Tar Sándor and Bodor Ádám. Her work consistently explores the intersections of identity, politics, and literary form across historical periods, with particular attention to narrative structure and symbolic representation.

• Fiction Observer Award (2004)
• Mikes Kelemen Award (2008)
• Fiction Writers Award (2021)
• Attila József Award (2024)
• Literary Magazine Award (2024)

Banki has been actively involved in doctoral education, serving as an opponent at doctoral defenses for topics including female characters in French literature, gender and structure in Bernardim Ribeiro's novel, and contemporary Brazilian literature. She co-founded the Creative Writing specialization at her institution with István Géher in 2014 and has served as subject manager for multiple courses including World Literature and Translation in Culture.

She participates in several research groups including the Latin America Research Group (KRE), the Hungarian Branch of the International Courtly Literature Society, and the Contemporary Central European Novel Research Group (KRE), reflecting her interdisciplinary approach to literary studies across historical periods and cultural contexts.