László Krasznahorkai Wins the 2025 Nobel Award in Literary Arts

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

The Academy praised the author's "powerful and prophetic body of work that, amidst cataclysmic terror, reasserts the power of creative expression."

A Legacy of Apocalyptic Narratives

Krasznahorkai is known for his dystopian, somber works, which have won several prizes, including the 2019 National Book Award for translated literature and the prestigious Man Booker International Prize.

A number of of his works, notably his titles Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been turned into movies.

Debut Novel

Originating in Gyula, Hungary in the mid-1950s, Krasznahorkai first gained recognition with his 1985 initial work his seminal novel, a dark and hypnotic depiction of a collapsing rural community.

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

A Distinctive Prose Technique

Often described as postmodernist, Krasznahorkai is famous for his long, winding sentences (the twelve chapters of his novel each are a solitary block of text), dystopian and pensive motifs, and the kind of persistent intensity that has led literary experts to draw parallels with literary giants like Kafka.

Satantango was widely made into a lengthy movie by cinematic artist Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a lengthy artistic collaboration.

"He is a great writer of epic tales in the Central European heritage that extends through Franz Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterised by absurdist elements and grotesque exaggeration," stated Anders Olsson, head of the Nobel jury.

He characterized Krasznahorkai’s style as having "developed towards … flowing language with long, winding lines devoid of full stops that has become his hallmark."

Expert Opinions

Sontag has referred to the author as "today's Hungarian master of end-times," while WG Sebald commended the broad relevance of his vision.

A handful of Krasznahorkai’s works have been rendered in English. The critic James Wood once wrote that his books "are shared like rare currency."

International Inspiration

Krasznahorkai’s career has been molded by journeys as much as by literature. He first exited communist his homeland in 1987, staying a twelve months in Berlin for a fellowship, and later found inspiration from east Asia – notably Mongolia and China – for novels such as The Prisoner of Urga, and his book on China.

While working on this novel, he travelled widely across European nations and stayed in the legendary poet's New York home, noting the legendary Beat poet's backing as essential to finishing the work.

Author's Perspective

Asked how he would explain his oeuvre in an conversation, Krasznahorkai responded: "Characters; then from these characters, vocabulary; then from these terms, some short sentences; then more sentences that are longer, and in the main exceptionally extended sentences, for the period of decades. Beauty in language. Enjoyment in despair."

On audiences encountering his books for the initial encounter, he continued: "Should there be readers who haven’t read my books, I couldn’t recommend any specific title to explore to them; rather, I’d advise them to go out, rest somewhere, maybe by the side of a brook, with nothing to do, a clear mind, just remaining in silence like stones. They will sooner or later encounter someone who has encountered my works."

Literature Prize History

Prior to the declaration, betting agencies had listed the favourites for this year's prize as Can Xue, an innovative Chinese novelist, and Krasznahorkai himself.

The Nobel Prize in Literature has been given on 117 prior instances since 1901. Current winners include the French author, Bob Dylan, Abdulrazak Gurnah, the poet, the Austrian and the Polish author. The previous year's recipient was Han Kang, the Korean novelist most famous for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will ceremonially be presented with the prize medal and document in a function in December in Stockholm, Sweden.

Additional details forthcoming