Esteemed Writer László Krasznahorkai Wins the Nobel Nobel Award in Literature

The prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature for the year 2025 has been granted to Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, as declared by the committee.

The Committee praised the author's "gripping and imaginative oeuvre that, amidst end-times terror, reaffirms the strength of art."

A Legacy of Bleak Fiction

Krasznahorkai is known for his dark, pensive works, which have won several awards, such as the recent National Book Award for translated literature and the prestigious Man Booker International Prize.

Many of his books, including his fictional works his debut and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been adapted into cinematic works.

Initial Success

Born in Gyula, Hungary in 1954, Krasznahorkai first made his mark with his mid-80s debut novel Satantango, a grim and mesmerising representation of a failing countryside settlement.

The book would later win the Man Booker International Prize award in English nearly three decades later, in 2013.

A Distinctive Literary Style

Commonly referred to as postmodernist, Krasznahorkai is famous for his long, winding sentences (the dozen sections of Satantango each are a solitary block of text), bleak and somber motifs, and the kind of persistent force that has led critics to draw parallels with literary giants like Kafka.

Satantango was widely adapted into a lengthy movie by filmmaker Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a enduring working relationship.

"Krasznahorkai is a remarkable epic writer in the central European tradition that extends through Kafka to Bernhard, and is defined by the absurd and grotesque exaggeration," said the committee chair, chair of the Nobel panel.

He characterized Krasznahorkai’s prose as having "evolved into … continuous structure with long, winding sentences devoid of punctuation that has become his signature."

Literary Praise

Sontag has described the author as "the modern Hungarian master of end-times," while the writer W.G. Sebald praised the wide appeal of his perspective.

A handful of Krasznahorkai’s works have been rendered in English translation. The literary critic James Wood once noted that his books "get passed around like precious items."

International Inspiration

Krasznahorkai’s career has been shaped by travel as much as by language. He first departed from socialist his homeland in 1987, staying a period in Berlin for a fellowship, and later was inspired from Asia – notably Asian nations – for books such as a specific work, and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens.

While developing this novel, he journeyed extensively across Europe and resided temporarily in the legendary poet's New York apartment, describing the famous poet's support as crucial to finalizing the novel.

Author's Perspective

Inquired how he would describe his work in an conversation, Krasznahorkai said: "Letters; then from these characters, vocabulary; then from these terms, some brief phrases; then further lines that are longer, and in the primary very long sentences, for the period of 35 years. Elegance in prose. Fun in despair."

On readers finding his work for the first time, he continued: "For any readers who have not yet read my works, I couldn’t recommend a particular book to read to them; instead, I’d advise them to venture outside, settle somewhere, possibly by the side of a brook, with nothing to do, nothing to think about, just staying in quiet like rocks. They will eventually encounter an individual who has previously read my novels."

Nobel Prize Context

Ahead of the reveal, oddsmakers had listed the frontrunners for this year’s award as an avant-garde author, an avant garde Chinese writer, and Krasznahorkai himself.

The Nobel Honor in Writing has been given on over a hundred previous occasions since 1901. Latest recipients include Ernaux, Dylan, the Tanzanian-born writer, the poet, Handke and Tokarczuk. The previous year's winner was the South Korean writer, the South Korean novelist renowned for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will officially accept the medal and certificate in a ceremony in the month of December in Stockholm.

More to follow