Hungarian Master of Apocalyptic Fiction, László Krasznahorkai, Wins 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature
STOCKHOLM: Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, a visionary writer known for his dense, demanding, and often apocalyptic novels, was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday. The Swedish Academy praised him for a body of work that finds profound meaning and the power of art amidst terror and despair.
The prize, worth 11 million Swedish crowns (approximately $1.2 million), celebrates the 71-year-old author’s unique position in world literature. “The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 is awarded to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art,” announced Mats Malm, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy.
The jury described Krasznahorkai as “a great epic writer in the Central European tradition that extends through Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterised by absurdism and grotesque excess.”
A Career Built on Despair and Beauty
Born in 1954 in Gyula, Hungary, Krasznahorkai burst onto the literary scene with his 1985 debut novel, ‘Sátántangó’. Set in a desolate rural landscape, the novel captured the haunting despair of a post-communist society and became a landmark of contemporary Hungarian literature. It was later adapted into a celebrated seven-and-a-half-hour film by his long-time collaborator, director Béla Tarr.
His more recent work, ‘Herscht 07769’, has been hailed as a great contemporary German novel. The Academy noted its “credible portrayal of a contemporary small town in Thüringen, Germany, which is nevertheless also afflicted by social anarchy, murder and arson.” They praised it as being “written in a single breath, about violence and beauty ‘impossibly’ conjoined.”
Krasznahorkai’s literary vision is also shaped by his travels in East Asia. His 2003 novel, translated as ‘A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East’, is a lyrical and mysterious tale set near Kyoto, Japan. This work serves as a prelude to his masterpiece, ‘Seiobo There Below’, a profound meditation on art, beauty, and impermanence told through 17 interconnected stories.
A Prestigious and Controversial History
The Nobel Prize in Literature, first awarded in 1901, has recognized some of the world’s most influential writers, including William Faulkner (1949), Winston Churchill (1953), and Orhan Pamuk (2006). Last year’s prize was awarded to South Korean author Han Kang.
However, the Swedish Academy’s choices have often sparked controversy. The 2016 award to American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan drew criticism over whether his lyrics qualified as literature. Similarly, the 2019 prize to Austrian writer Peter Handke was widely condemned due to his support for the late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, who was accused of war crimes.
With this year’s selection, the Academy has returned to a figure widely respected in literary circles, celebrating an author who has consistently challenged the boundaries of the novel form to explore the darkest corners of the human condition.
