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

The Jury highlighted the 71-year-old's "gripping and imaginative body of work that, within cataclysmic terror, reasserts the power of art."

A Renowned Path of Bleak Narratives

Krasznahorkai is celebrated for his bleak, somber books, which have won many accolades, including the 2019 National Book Award for translated literature and the prestigious Man Booker International Prize.

Many of his works, including his fictional works Satantango and another major work, have been adapted into cinematic works.

Early Beginnings

Originating in a Hungarian locale in 1954, Krasznahorkai first gained recognition with his mid-80s first book Satantango, a dark and captivating depiction of a collapsing rural community.

The novel would go on to earn the Man Booker International Prize recognition in English nearly three decades later, in 2013.

A Distinctive Prose Technique

Commonly referred to as avant-garde, Krasznahorkai is known for his lengthy, intricate phrases (the twelve chapters of his novel each consist of a one paragraph), dystopian and somber subjects, and the kind of unwavering intensity that has led critics to compare him to Gogol, Melville and Kafka.

The novel was widely adapted into a seven-hour movie by filmmaker the director Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a lengthy working relationship.

"Krasznahorkai is a remarkable author of grand narratives in the European heritage that extends through Franz Kafka to the Austrian writer, and is defined by absurdism and grotesque exaggeration," commented the Nobel chair, head of the Nobel jury.

He described Krasznahorkai’s writing as having "progressed to … flowing language with lengthy, intricate lines devoid of full stops that has become his trademark."

Critical Acclaim

The critic Susan Sontag has described the author as "today's Hungarian genius of apocalypse," while the writer W.G. Sebald commended the broad relevance of his outlook.

Just a small number of Krasznahorkai’s novels have been published in English. The reviewer James Wood once wrote that his books "circulate like precious items."

Global Influences

Krasznahorkai’s professional journey has been influenced by exploration as much as by his writing. He first departed from communist the country in 1987, spending a twelve months in the city for a grant, and later was inspired from Eastern Asia – especially China and Mongolia – for novels such as The Prisoner of Urga, and another novel.

While developing War and War, he journeyed extensively across the continent and lived for a time in Ginsberg's New York residence, stating the legendary Beat poet's backing as essential to finalizing the work.

Writer's Own Words

Questioned how he would describe his work in an conversation, Krasznahorkai answered: "Characters; then from letters, vocabulary; then from these terms, some short sentences; then additional phrases that are longer, and in the chief exceptionally extended paragraphs, for the period of decades. Elegance in prose. Fun in despair."

On audiences encountering his books for the first time, he added: "For any readers who haven’t read my novels, I would not suggest anything to peruse to them; on the contrary, I’d advise them to go out, rest at a location, possibly by the banks of a creek, with no tasks, nothing to think about, just staying in silence like boulders. They will sooner or later encounter someone who has previously read my novels."

Nobel Prize Context

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

The Nobel Award in Writing has been awarded on over a hundred past events since the early 20th century. Recent recipients are the French author, Bob Dylan, Gurnah, Glück, Peter Handke and Tokarczuk. The most recent honoree was the South Korean writer, the Korean author most famous for her acclaimed novel.

Krasznahorkai will officially be presented with the prize medal and diploma in a event in the month of December in Stockholm.

Updates to come