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

The Jury highlighted the 71-year-old's "gripping and imaginative body of work that, in the midst of end-times terror, reaffirms the power of the arts."

A Renowned Path of Apocalyptic Fiction

Krasznahorkai is renowned for his dark, somber books, which have won numerous prizes, such as the 2019 National Book Award for translated literature and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Many of his books, notably his titles Satantango and another major work, have been made into cinematic works.

Initial Success

Originating in the Hungarian town of Gyula in 1954, Krasznahorkai first made his mark with his mid-80s debut novel Satantango, a bleak and mesmerising representation of a disintegrating village society.

The work would go on to secure the Man Booker International Prize honor in the English language nearly three decades later, in the 2010s.

A Distinctive Literary Style

Often described as postmodern, Krasznahorkai is famous for his long, winding phrases (the dozen sections of the book each comprise a single paragraph), apocalyptic and pensive motifs, and the kind of relentless force that has led literary experts to draw parallels with Gogol, Melville and Kafka.

Satantango was notably adapted into a seven-hour motion picture by filmmaker Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a enduring artistic collaboration.

"The author is a significant epic writer in the European literary tradition that extends through Franz Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is marked by absurdism and grotesque exaggeration," stated the committee chair, leader of the Nobel panel.

He characterized Krasznahorkai’s style as having "progressed to … flowing syntax with long, winding sentences without full stops that has become his trademark."

Expert Opinions

Sontag has described the author as "the modern from Hungary expert of end-times," while the writer W.G. Sebald praised the broad relevance of his perspective.

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

Global Influences

Krasznahorkai’s literary path has been influenced by travel as much as by language. He first departed from the communist the country in 1987, spending a year in the city for a fellowship, and later drew inspiration from east Asia – particularly Asian nations – for novels such as a specific work, and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens.

While working on War and War, he journeyed extensively across Europe and lived for a time in Allen Ginsberg’s New York apartment, stating the famous writer's support as essential to finishing the book.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Asked how he would explain his work in an interview, Krasznahorkai said: "Letters; then from letters, words; then from these words, some short sentences; then further lines that are longer, and in the primary very long phrases, for the period of decades. Beauty in writing. Fun in hell."

On fans encountering his books for the first time, he continued: "For any readers who have not yet read my books, I would not suggest any specific title to explore to them; on the contrary, I’d advise them to go out, sit down in a place, possibly by the edge of a stream, with no obligations, nothing to think about, just remaining in tranquility like rocks. They will eventually come across an individual who has previously read my books."

Nobel Prize Context

Ahead of the reveal, bookmakers had listed the top contenders for this year’s honor as Can Xue, an innovative from China author, and Krasznahorkai himself.

The Nobel Award in Literary Arts has been awarded on over a hundred prior instances since the early 20th century. Current laureates are the French author, Dylan, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Glück, the Austrian and the Polish author. The previous year's recipient was the South Korean writer, the Korean author renowned for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will ceremonially accept the prize medal and document in a event in winter in Stockholm, Sweden.

Additional details forthcoming