The Hungarian Author László Krasznahorkai Wins the Nobel Nobel Award in Literature
The world-renowned Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 has been awarded to from Hungary author László Krasznahorkai, as declared by the committee.
The Committee highlighted the 71-year-old's "compelling and visionary collection that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reasserts the strength of art."
An Esteemed Career of Bleak Fiction
Krasznahorkai is renowned for his bleak, melancholic novels, which have earned several accolades, such as the 2019 National Book Award for translated literature and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.
A number of of his works, among them his titles his debut and another major work, have been made into feature films.
Initial Success
Born in the Hungarian town of Gyula in 1954, Krasznahorkai first rose to prominence with his 1985 first book his seminal novel, a grim and mesmerising portrayal of a disintegrating rural community.
The book would go on to secure the Man Booker International Prize recognition in translation decades after, in 2013.
An Unconventional Prose Technique
Commonly referred to as avant-garde, Krasznahorkai is renowned for his lengthy, intricate phrases (the twelve chapters of Satantango each are a solitary block of text), dystopian and pensive subjects, and the kind of unwavering intensity that has led reviewers to compare him to Kafka, Melville, and Gogol.
The novel was notably made into a seven-hour movie by filmmaker the director Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a enduring creative partnership.
"He is a great author of grand narratives in the central European tradition that includes Kafka to Bernhard, and is defined by absurdist elements and grotesque exaggeration," stated the committee chair, chair of the Nobel jury.
He described Krasznahorkai’s style as having "developed towards … smooth syntax with extended, meandering sentences without punctuation that has become his signature."
Critical Acclaim
The critic Susan Sontag has referred to the author as "today's from Hungary expert of end-times," while Sebald applauded the universality of his vision.
Only a few of Krasznahorkai’s works have been translated into the English language. The reviewer Wood once noted that his books "get passed around like valuable artifacts."
Worldwide Travels
Krasznahorkai’s career has been shaped by exploration as much as by language. He first exited the communist his homeland in 1987, spending a twelve months in West Berlin for a scholarship, and later found inspiration from Eastern Asia – especially Mongolia and China – for books such as a specific work, and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens.
While writing this novel, he journeyed extensively across European nations and stayed in Allen Ginsberg’s New York apartment, describing the famous poet's assistance as essential to finishing the work.
Krasznahorkai on His Work
Inquired how he would characterize his work in an conversation, Krasznahorkai said: "Characters; then from letters, vocabulary; then from these words, some concise lines; then additional phrases that are longer, and in the chief extremely lengthy paragraphs, for the duration of 35 years. Beauty in language. Fun in despair."
On audiences encountering his writing for the initial encounter, he noted: "For any readers who haven’t read my novels, I would not suggest a particular book to read to them; rather, I’d recommend them to go out, settle at a location, possibly by the side of a brook, with no tasks, a clear mind, just being in silence like boulders. They will eventually come across someone who has encountered my books."
Literature Prize History
Before the announcement, betting agencies had pegged the frontrunners for this year’s award as the Chinese writer, an innovative from China novelist, and Krasznahorkai himself.
The Nobel Prize in Literature has been presented on 117 past events since 1901. Latest laureates include Ernaux, Dylan, Abdulrazak Gurnah, the poet, Handke and Olga Tokarczuk. Last year’s recipient was Han Kang, the from South Korea author best known for The Vegetarian.
Krasznahorkai will officially accept the prize medal and document in a ceremony in December in the Swedish capital.
More to follow