Esteemed Writer László Krasznahorkai Wins the 2025 Nobel Award in Literature

The prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature for the year 2025 has been awarded to from Hungary author László Krasznahorkai, as announced by the Swedish Academy.

The Committee praised the seventy-one-year-old's "powerful and prophetic oeuvre that, in the midst of end-times terror, confirms the strength of the arts."

An Esteemed Career of Dystopian Fiction

Krasznahorkai is renowned for his dark, pensive books, which have won many accolades, such as the recent National Book Award for literature in translation and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Several of his books, notably his fictional works Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been turned into cinematic works.

Early Beginnings

Born in Gyula, Hungary in 1954, Krasznahorkai first made his mark with his 1985 first book Satantango, a dark and mesmerising portrayal of a collapsing countryside settlement.

The book would eventually earn the Man Booker International Prize award in English decades after, in 2013.

A Distinctive Writing Approach

Often described as postmodernist, Krasznahorkai is known for his extended, meandering sentences (the dozen sections of his novel each consist of a single paragraph), dystopian and pensive themes, and the kind of unwavering force that has led reviewers to liken him to Gogol, Melville and Kafka.

Satantango was notably adapted into a seven-hour motion picture by director Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a lengthy creative partnership.

"Krasznahorkai is a great epic writer in the Central European tradition that includes Kafka to Bernhard, and is marked by absurdist elements and bizarre extremes," said Anders Olsson, head of the Nobel panel.

He described Krasznahorkai’s prose as having "progressed to … flowing syntax with extended, meandering lines without periods that has become his hallmark."

Critical Acclaim

Susan Sontag has called the author as "the contemporary Hungarian master of the apocalyptic," while Sebald applauded the broad relevance of his outlook.

A handful of Krasznahorkai’s works have been published in English. The critic James Wood once noted that his books "get passed around like precious items."

International Inspiration

Krasznahorkai’s career has been influenced by exploration as much as by literature. He first departed from socialist Hungary in 1987, staying a period in West Berlin for a scholarship, and later drew inspiration from east Asia – notably Asian nations – for novels such as a specific work, and another novel.

While writing this novel, he travelled widely across the continent and resided temporarily in Allen Ginsberg’s New York apartment, stating the renowned writer's assistance as crucial to finalizing the novel.

Writer's Own Words

Questioned how he would explain his oeuvre in an discussion, Krasznahorkai said: "Characters; then from these characters, words; then from these terms, some short sentences; then more sentences that are more extended, and in the chief very long sentences, for the span of three and a half decades. Beauty in prose. Fun in despair."

On fans discovering his work for the first time, he added: "Should there be readers who have not yet read my works, I couldn’t recommend anything to read to them; rather, I’d advise them to go out, sit down somewhere, possibly by the banks of a creek, with no tasks, no thoughts, just being in silence like stones. They will in time encounter an individual who has already read my novels."

Award Background

Prior to the declaration, oddsmakers had listed the top contenders for this year's award as Can Xue, an experimental from China writer, and Krasznahorkai.

The Nobel Honor in Literature has been presented on 117 past events since 1901. Recent laureates include Ernaux, the musician, the Tanzanian-born writer, Louise Glück, Peter Handke and Olga Tokarczuk. Last year’s honoree was Han Kang, the from South Korea writer most famous for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will formally accept the award and document in a ceremony in the month of December in Stockholm.

Updates to come