László Krasznahorkai Awarded the Nobel Nobel Prize in Literature

The world-renowned Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 has been granted to Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, as declared by the Swedish Academy.

The Committee praised the seventy-one-year-old's "powerful and prophetic oeuvre that, within cataclysmic dread, confirms the power of creative expression."

An Esteemed Career of Apocalyptic Fiction

Krasznahorkai is renowned for his dark, melancholic novels, which have won numerous accolades, such as the 2019 National Book Award for international writing and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Several of his books, among them his titles Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been made into movies.

Early Beginnings

Born in a Hungarian locale in 1954, Krasznahorkai first gained recognition with his mid-80s first book Satantango, a bleak and mesmerising representation of a collapsing rural community.

The novel would eventually secure the Man Booker International Prize honor in English decades after, in 2013.

An Unconventional Literary Style

Often described as postmodern, Krasznahorkai is known for his long, winding sentences (the 12 chapters of the book each are a one paragraph), bleak and melancholic themes, and the kind of unwavering force that has led reviewers to draw parallels with literary giants like Kafka.

Satantango was notably transformed into a seven-hour movie by director the director Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a enduring creative partnership.

"He is a remarkable epic writer in the European tradition that traces back to Kafka to Bernhard, and is defined by absurdist elements and bizarre extremes," said Anders Olsson, leader of the Nobel committee.

He portrayed Krasznahorkai’s prose as having "evolved into … flowing language with long, winding lines devoid of punctuation that has become his signature."

Literary Praise

Sontag has called the author as "the modern Hungarian expert of the apocalyptic," while WG Sebald praised the wide appeal of his vision.

A handful of Krasznahorkai’s novels have been rendered in English. The reviewer Wood once remarked that his books "get passed around like precious items."

Worldwide Travels

Krasznahorkai’s career has been molded by travel as much as by his writing. He first departed from communist his homeland in the late 80s, spending a twelve months in the city for a fellowship, and later drew inspiration from east Asia – particularly China and Mongolia – for works such as a specific work, and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens.

While writing War and War, he travelled widely across Europe and lived for a time in Allen Ginsberg’s New York residence, describing the renowned Beat poet's assistance as essential to finalizing the novel.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Inquired how he would explain his oeuvre in an discussion, Krasznahorkai said: "Letters; then from letters, vocabulary; then from these terms, some concise lines; then more sentences that are more extended, and in the primary very long paragraphs, for the duration of 35 years. Elegance in writing. Enjoyment in despair."

On fans encountering his writing for the first time, he noted: "If there are individuals who have not yet read my novels, I would not suggest a particular book to peruse to them; on the contrary, I’d recommend them to step out, settle in a place, possibly by the edge of a stream, with no obligations, nothing to think about, just staying in silence like rocks. They will in time come across a person who has already read my novels."

Nobel Prize Context

Ahead of the reveal, oddsmakers had listed the frontrunners for this annual prize as Can Xue, an innovative Chinese writer, and Krasznahorkai himself.

The Nobel Prize in Writing has been presented on over a hundred past events since 1901. Current recipients are Annie Ernaux, Dylan, the Tanzanian-born writer, the poet, the Austrian and the Polish author. Last year’s honoree was the South Korean writer, the from South Korea writer most famous for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will ceremonially receive the award and certificate in a event in winter in the Swedish capital.

Updates to come