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The coveted Nobel Prize in Literature for the year 2025 has been granted to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, as announced by the committee.

The Committee highlighted the author's "powerful and prophetic body of work that, within end-times terror, reaffirms the force of creative expression."

A Renowned Path of Bleak Fiction

Krasznahorkai is celebrated for his dark, melancholic books, which have earned several accolades, including the recent National Book Award for literature in translation and the prestigious Man Booker International Prize.

Many of his works, notably his novels his debut and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been adapted into cinematic works.

Debut Novel

Originating in a Hungarian locale in the mid-1950s, Krasznahorkai first rose to prominence with his 1985 first book Satantango, a dark and captivating depiction of a failing rural community.

The book would go on to secure the Man Booker International Prize honor in English decades after, in 2013.

An Unconventional Literary Style

Frequently labeled as postmodern, Krasznahorkai is renowned for his long, winding sentences (the 12 chapters of the book each comprise a single paragraph), dystopian and somber themes, and the kind of persistent intensity that has led reviewers to liken him to Gogol, Melville and Kafka.

Satantango was notably adapted into a lengthy motion picture by filmmaker the director Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a enduring working relationship.

"Krasznahorkai is a significant author of grand narratives in the European tradition that includes Kafka to the Austrian writer, and is marked by the absurd and grotesque exaggeration," commented the committee chair, leader of the Nobel committee.

He characterized Krasznahorkai’s prose as having "progressed to … continuous structure with long, winding phrases devoid of punctuation that has become his signature."

Literary Praise

The critic Susan Sontag has described the author as "the contemporary Hungarian master of the apocalyptic," while Sebald praised the wide appeal of his perspective.

A handful of Krasznahorkai’s works have been published in English. The reviewer James Wood once noted that his books "circulate like rare currency."

Global Influences

Krasznahorkai’s career has been molded by travel as much as by his writing. He first left communist Hungary in 1987, spending a period in Berlin for a scholarship, and later was inspired from east Asia – especially Mongolia and China – for works such as one of his titles, and his book on China.

While developing this novel, he travelled widely across the continent and stayed in the legendary poet's New York residence, stating the renowned writer's backing as essential to finalizing the work.

Writer's Own Words

Inquired how he would characterize his writing in an conversation, Krasznahorkai said: "Characters; then from letters, words; then from these terms, some short sentences; then further lines that are longer, and in the primary exceptionally extended phrases, for the span of 35 years. Beauty in prose. Enjoyment in darkness."

On audiences finding his writing for the first time, he continued: "For any readers who have not yet read my novels, I would refrain from advising any specific title to explore to them; on the contrary, I’d suggest them to go out, sit down in a place, maybe by the side of a brook, with no tasks, a clear mind, just being in quiet like stones. They will eventually come across a person who has encountered my works."

Nobel Prize Context

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

The Nobel Prize in Literary Arts has been awarded on 117 previous occasions since the early 20th century. Current recipients include Annie Ernaux, the musician, Gurnah, the poet, Handke and Olga Tokarczuk. The previous year's recipient was Han Kang, the South Korean novelist most famous for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will officially receive the medal and diploma in a event in December in Stockholm.

Updates to come