László Krasznahorkai Awarded the 2025 Nobel Award in Literature

The coveted Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 has been awarded to Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, as revealed by the Nobel awarding body.

The Academy commended the author's "compelling and visionary oeuvre that, amidst apocalyptic fear, confirms the power of the arts."

An Esteemed Career of Apocalyptic Writing

Krasznahorkai is renowned for his dark, melancholic books, which have won numerous prizes, for instance the recent National Book Award for literature in translation and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Many of his novels, including his fictional works Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been made into cinematic works.

Initial Success

Originating in Gyula, Hungary in the mid-1950s, Krasznahorkai first rose to prominence with his 1985 initial work Satantango, a bleak and mesmerising depiction of a failing rural community.

The novel would later win the Man Booker International Prize honor in translation many years later, in 2013.

A Unique Literary Style

Frequently labeled as avant-garde, Krasznahorkai is renowned for his long, winding phrases (the twelve chapters of Satantango each comprise a single paragraph), apocalyptic and melancholic motifs, and the kind of relentless force that has led reviewers to liken him to Kafka, Melville, and Gogol.

The novel was famously adapted into a lengthy movie by cinematic artist Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a enduring creative partnership.

"The author is a great epic writer in the central European tradition that includes Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterised by absurdist elements and grotesque excess," stated the Nobel chair, head of the Nobel committee.

He portrayed Krasznahorkai’s prose as having "evolved into … flowing structure with lengthy, intricate lines without periods that has become his hallmark."

Expert Opinions

Sontag has referred to the author as "today's Hungarian master of end-times," while Sebald applauded the universality of his perspective.

A handful of Krasznahorkai’s books have been published in the English language. The reviewer Wood once remarked that his books "are shared like precious items."

Worldwide Travels

Krasznahorkai’s career has been influenced by exploration as much as by his writing. He first exited socialist the country in 1987, residing a twelve months in the city for a fellowship, and later drew inspiration from Eastern Asia – notably Asian nations – for novels such as one of his titles, and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens.

While working on this novel, he travelled widely across the continent and lived for a time in Ginsberg's New York apartment, describing the famous writer's assistance as crucial to finalizing the work.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Questioned how he would describe his work in an conversation, Krasznahorkai responded: "Letters; then from letters, words; then from these terms, some concise lines; then further lines that are lengthier, and in the main exceptionally extended sentences, for the duration of decades. Beauty in language. Enjoyment in despair."

On fans discovering his work for the first time, he continued: "For any people who haven’t read my books, I would refrain from advising any specific title to peruse to them; on the contrary, I’d recommend them to go out, settle in a place, perhaps by the edge of a stream, with no tasks, no thoughts, just staying in tranquility like rocks. They will sooner or later meet an individual who has already read my novels."

Nobel Prize Context

Prior to the declaration, betting agencies had listed the frontrunners for this year's prize as Can Xue, an avant garde Chinese writer, and Krasznahorkai.

The Nobel Prize in Writing has been presented on one hundred seventeen prior instances since the early 20th century. Recent recipients have included Annie Ernaux, Dylan, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Glück, the Austrian and Tokarczuk. Last year’s recipient was Han Kang, the South Korean writer renowned for The Vegetarian.

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

More to follow