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

The Committee highlighted the seventy-one-year-old's "gripping and imaginative body of work that, amidst end-times dread, reaffirms the force of art."

A Legacy of Dystopian Narratives

Krasznahorkai is known for his dark, pensive novels, which have earned many accolades, for instance the 2019 National Book Award for international writing and the prestigious Man Booker International Prize.

A number of of his novels, among them his novels his debut and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been adapted into movies.

Early Beginnings

Born in a Hungarian locale in the mid-1950s, Krasznahorkai first made his mark with his mid-80s initial work Satantango, a bleak and mesmerising representation of a collapsing rural community.

The work would eventually secure the Man Booker International Prize award in the English language decades after, in the 2010s.

A Unique Prose Technique

Commonly referred to as postmodernist, Krasznahorkai is known for his lengthy, intricate phrases (the 12 chapters of Satantango each comprise a single paragraph), bleak and melancholic motifs, and the kind of persistent power that has led reviewers to liken him to Kafka, Melville, and Gogol.

This work was notably transformed into a extended film by filmmaker Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a long working relationship.

"He is a significant author of grand narratives in the European literary tradition that includes Franz Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterised by absurdist elements and grotesque exaggeration," commented the committee chair, head of the Nobel jury.

He characterized Krasznahorkai’s prose as having "developed towards … flowing language with long, winding phrases without full stops that has become his hallmark."

Critical Acclaim

Sontag has called the author as "today's Hungarian master of apocalypse," while WG Sebald applauded the universality of his perspective.

Only a few of Krasznahorkai’s novels have been translated into English translation. The literary critic James Wood once noted that his books "are shared like valuable artifacts."

International Inspiration

Krasznahorkai’s career has been shaped by exploration as much as by language. He first exited the communist Hungary in the late 80s, staying a twelve months in Berlin for a fellowship, and later found inspiration from Asia – particularly Mongolia and China – for novels such as one of his titles, and his book on China.

While developing War and War, he explored across Europe and stayed in the legendary poet's New York residence, stating the renowned Beat poet's assistance as crucial to finishing the work.

Writer's Own Words

Questioned how he would characterize his writing in an discussion, Krasznahorkai answered: "Characters; then from these characters, words; then from these terms, some brief phrases; then additional phrases that are longer, and in the chief extremely lengthy paragraphs, for the period of decades. Elegance in writing. Enjoyment in despair."

On readers discovering his writing for the first time, he added: "For any readers who haven’t read my books, I would not suggest anything to peruse to them; instead, I’d recommend them to go out, rest at a location, maybe by the banks of a creek, with no obligations, a clear mind, just remaining in silence like rocks. They will sooner or later meet someone who has already read my books."

Award Background

Ahead of the reveal, bookmakers had listed the frontrunners for this year's honor as an avant-garde author, an avant garde from China author, and Krasznahorkai.

The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded on 117 prior instances since 1901. Recent recipients have included the French author, Dylan, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Glück, Peter Handke and Tokarczuk. Last year’s honoree was Han Kang, the from South Korea writer most famous for her acclaimed novel.

Krasznahorkai will officially be presented with the medal and document in a ceremony in December in Stockholm, Sweden.

Updates to come