Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai has won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy awarded him for his “compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”
At age 71, Krasznahorkai is known for his dense, winding prose and bleak imagination. His novels often explore themes like societal collapse, despair, and existential dread. His breakthrough work Sátántangó (1985) dramatizes life in a decaying collective farm, and it was adapted into a long, contemplative film by director Béla Tarr.
The Nobel committee described him as a “great epic writer” in the Central European tradition, drawing lines to Kafka and Thomas Bernhard, and praised his “absurdism and grotesque excess.” They also noted how his later works adopt a more contemplative tone, with influences from East Asian thought thanks to his travels in China and Japan.
This is only the second time a Hungarian author has received the Nobel in Literature (the first was Imre Kertész in 2002). Krasznahorkai said he once planned to write just one book, but his life turned into “a permanent correction” — always reshaping his ideas.
His works challenge readers, but also offer deep reflections on art, chaos, and human endurance.
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