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The world-renowned Nobel Prize in Literature for the year 2025 has been bestowed upon from Hungary author László Krasznahorkai, as announced by the committee.

The Committee highlighted the 71-year-old's "powerful and prophetic collection that, amidst cataclysmic dread, confirms the strength of art."

An Esteemed Career of Dystopian Fiction

Krasznahorkai is known for his dystopian, pensive novels, which have earned many prizes, such as the 2019 National Book Award for translated literature and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

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

Debut Novel

Originating in Gyula, Hungary in 1954, Krasznahorkai first rose to prominence with his mid-80s debut novel Satantango, a grim and mesmerising depiction of a failing countryside settlement.

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

A Unique Writing Approach

Frequently labeled as avant-garde, Krasznahorkai is famous for his extended, meandering prose (the dozen sections of the book each comprise a solitary block of text), bleak and pensive subjects, and the kind of relentless force that has led literary experts to liken him to literary giants like Kafka.

The novel was widely transformed into a lengthy motion picture by cinematic artist the director Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a long creative partnership.

"Krasznahorkai is a significant writer of epic tales in the Central European literary tradition that extends through Kafka to the Austrian writer, and is characterised by absurdist elements and grotesque excess," said the Nobel chair, leader of the Nobel panel.

He described Krasznahorkai’s style as having "developed towards … flowing structure with long, winding sentences devoid of periods that has become his hallmark."

Critical Acclaim

The critic Susan Sontag has called the author as "the modern from Hungary master of apocalypse," while the writer W.G. Sebald applauded the wide appeal of his outlook.

Only a few of Krasznahorkai’s novels have been rendered in English. The reviewer James Wood once noted that his books "get passed around like valuable artifacts."

International Inspiration

Krasznahorkai’s career has been molded by exploration as much as by literature. He first departed from the communist the country in the late 80s, residing a twelve months in the city for a fellowship, and later found inspiration from east Asia – particularly Mongolia and China – for novels such as one of his titles, and his book on China.

While writing War and War, he explored across Europe and stayed in Ginsberg's New York apartment, stating the famous writer's support as essential to finishing the novel.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Questioned how he would describe his work in an discussion, Krasznahorkai said: "Characters; then from these characters, words; then from these terms, some brief phrases; then further lines that are longer, and in the primary extremely lengthy phrases, for the period of 35 years. Elegance in prose. Fun in hell."

On readers encountering his writing for the first time, he noted: "For any readers who are new to my novels, I would not suggest any specific title to explore to them; instead, I’d suggest them to step out, rest in a place, possibly by the side of a brook, with no obligations, a clear mind, just staying in silence like rocks. They will eventually meet a person who has encountered my works."

Literature Prize History

Ahead of the reveal, oddsmakers had listed the favourites for this annual honor as the Chinese writer, an innovative Chinese author, and Krasznahorkai.

The Nobel Prize in Writing has been presented on one hundred seventeen previous occasions since the early 20th century. Latest winners include the French author, the musician, the Tanzanian-born writer, the poet, the Austrian and Olga Tokarczuk. The most recent recipient was Han Kang, the from South Korea writer best known for The Vegetarian.

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

Additional details forthcoming