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The world-renowned Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 has been bestowed upon Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, as announced by the Nobel awarding body.

The Jury commended the author's "compelling and visionary body of work that, amidst apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of the arts."

A Renowned Path of Apocalyptic Writing

Krasznahorkai is renowned for his dark, melancholic works, which have won numerous prizes, including the recent National Book Award for international writing and the prestigious Man Booker International Prize.

Many of his novels, among them his fictional works Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been turned into feature films.

Early Beginnings

Originating in the Hungarian town of Gyula in 1954, Krasznahorkai first rose to prominence with his 1985 debut novel his seminal novel, a bleak and hypnotic portrayal of a failing village society.

The work would later earn the Man Booker International Prize honor in the English language many years later, in 2013.

A Distinctive Literary Style

Often described as avant-garde, Krasznahorkai is known for his extended, meandering phrases (the dozen sections of his novel each consist of a single paragraph), dystopian and pensive motifs, and the kind of persistent force that has led reviewers to compare him to Kafka, Melville, and Gogol.

The novel was notably made into a lengthy movie by director the director Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a enduring creative partnership.

"Krasznahorkai is a great epic writer in the central European heritage that includes Franz Kafka to the Austrian writer, and is marked by absurdist elements and grotesque excess," stated the Nobel chair, leader of the Nobel jury.

He portrayed Krasznahorkai’s writing as having "developed towards … flowing syntax with extended, meandering lines lacking periods that has become his signature."

Critical Acclaim

Susan Sontag has described the author as "the contemporary Hungarian master of apocalypse," while the writer W.G. Sebald commended the universality of his perspective.

Only a few of Krasznahorkai’s novels have been translated into English. The reviewer James Wood once wrote that his books "circulate like rare currency."

Worldwide Travels

Krasznahorkai’s literary path has been influenced by exploration as much as by language. He first departed from communist the country in 1987, residing a twelve months in the city for a grant, and later drew inspiration from Eastern Asia – notably Asian nations – for books such as The Prisoner of Urga, and his book on China.

While writing this novel, he explored across Europe and resided temporarily in Allen Ginsberg’s New York home, noting the renowned poet's backing as essential to finishing the work.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Asked how he would describe his oeuvre in an interview, Krasznahorkai answered: "Characters; then from these characters, vocabulary; then from these terms, some short sentences; then additional phrases that are lengthier, and in the primary extremely lengthy sentences, for the span of 35 years. Beauty in language. Fun in darkness."

On fans encountering his books for the first time, he added: "Should there be readers who haven’t read my works, I would refrain from advising any specific title to explore to them; on the contrary, I’d recommend them to go out, settle at a location, perhaps by the side of a brook, with nothing to do, nothing to think about, just staying in quiet like rocks. They will in time come across someone who has already read my novels."

Literature Prize History

Ahead of the reveal, betting agencies had listed the top contenders for this year’s prize as Can Xue, an avant garde Chinese novelist, and Krasznahorkai himself.

The Nobel Prize in Literary Arts has been awarded on over a hundred prior instances since 1901. Current recipients include the French author, Dylan, Gurnah, the poet, Peter Handke and Tokarczuk. The previous year's recipient was the South Korean writer, the Korean writer renowned for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will officially accept the medal and diploma in a event in winter in Stockholm, Sweden.

Updates to come