Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Nobel Committee described as “a compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”
The announcement was made on Thursday in Stockholm, Sweden, with the committee commending the 70-year-old writer for his profound and often challenging exploration of human existence.
Krasznahorkai, known for his complex prose and philosophical depth, said his dark and difficult novels aim to examine reality “to the point of madness.”
Born in Gyula, Hungary, in 1954, just before the Soviet repression of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Krasznahorkai has described his upbringing as one of moral and emotional struggle, saying he grew up “in a predicament and a country where a person accursed with a heightened aesthetic and moral sensitivity like me simply cannot survive.”
Often called the “contemporary master of the apocalypse” by the late American writer Susan Sontag, Krasznahorkai’s novels depict ordinary people searching for meaning amid chaos and spiritual decay. His works, such as The Melancholy of Resistance and Sátántangó, are renowned for their sprawling sentences and allegorical depth.
In The Melancholy of Resistance (1989), a decaying town is thrown into turmoil when a travelling circus arrives with the carcass of a giant whale. The “mysterious and menacing spectacle sets extreme forces in motion, prompting the spread of both violence and vandalism,” the Nobel Committee noted. One character, Mrs. Eszter, exploits the chaos, blaming “sinister forces” before reshaping the town to her will, having “swept away the old and established the new.”
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Krasznahorkai’s fiction resists clear moral conclusions. In a recent interview, he remarked that “art is humanity’s extraordinary response to the sense of lostness that is our fate,” underscoring his belief that literature’s purpose lies not in guidance but in reflection.
His signature style—lengthy, unbroken sentences that mimic the flow of thought—has become his hallmark. “The period doesn’t belong to human beings – it belongs to God,” he once said, describing his approach. Translator George Szirtes has called it a “slow lava-flow of narrative.”
Krasznahorkai first gained international recognition with his debut novel Sátántangó (1985), later adapted into a seven-hour film by director Béla Tarr. Despite its length, Sontag described the adaptation as “enthralling for every minute.”
The Nobel Committee also cited his ability to blend absurdism, grotesque imagery, and spiritual inquiry, noting that his work “reaffirms the enduring power of literature to confront the void.”
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature comes with a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately $1 million).
Last year’s prize went to Han Kang of South Korea for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas,” while the 2023 laureate, Jon Fosse of Norway, was recognized for his minimalist works that capture “the most powerful human emotions of anxiety and powerlessness.”
