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The world-renowned Nobel Prize in Literature for the year 2025 has been bestowed upon from Hungary author László Krasznahorkai, as declared by the Swedish Academy.

The Jury commended the 71-year-old's "powerful and prophetic oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of creative expression."

An Esteemed Career of Bleak Narratives

Krasznahorkai is celebrated for his dystopian, pensive novels, which have garnered numerous awards, for instance the 2019 National Book Award for international writing and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

A number of of his books, notably his fictional works his debut and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been made into feature films.

Early Beginnings

Originating in a Hungarian locale in 1954, Krasznahorkai first rose to prominence with his 1985 debut novel Satantango, a bleak and mesmerising portrayal of a failing rural community.

The work would later secure the Man Booker International Prize recognition in English decades after, in 2013.

A Unique Writing Approach

Frequently labeled as postmodern, Krasznahorkai is famous for his lengthy, intricate sentences (the 12 chapters of his novel each are a single paragraph), apocalyptic and somber themes, and the kind of relentless force that has led reviewers to compare him to Gogol, Melville and Kafka.

This work was notably made into a extended film by filmmaker Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a long creative partnership.

"Krasznahorkai is a remarkable epic writer in the central European literary tradition that includes Franz Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is marked by absurdism and bizarre extremes," stated the Nobel chair, leader of the Nobel panel.

He described Krasznahorkai’s writing as having "evolved into … continuous syntax with long, winding sentences devoid of punctuation that has become his hallmark."

Critical Acclaim

Sontag has referred to the author as "today's Hungarian expert of end-times," while WG Sebald commended the broad relevance of his perspective.

A handful of Krasznahorkai’s novels have been translated into English. The reviewer James Wood once remarked that his books "circulate like precious items."

Worldwide Travels

Krasznahorkai’s professional journey has been molded by travel as much as by language. He first departed from the communist the country in 1987, staying a year in the city for a grant, and later was inspired from Eastern Asia – particularly Mongolia and China – for novels such as one of his titles, and his book on China.

While writing War and War, he travelled widely across European nations and stayed in Ginsberg's New York apartment, stating the legendary Beat poet's support as vital to finalizing the novel.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Asked how he would characterize his writing in an interview, Krasznahorkai said: "Letters; then from letters, vocabulary; then from these terms, some short sentences; then more sentences that are lengthier, and in the chief very long phrases, for the duration of 35 years. Elegance in prose. Fun in despair."

On audiences discovering his writing for the first time, he continued: "For any readers who haven’t read my works, I couldn’t recommend any specific title to read to them; instead, I’d advise them to venture outside, sit down in a place, perhaps by the banks of a creek, with nothing to do, nothing to think about, just being in quiet like rocks. They will eventually meet a person who has previously read my novels."

Award Background

Ahead of the reveal, oddsmakers had ranked the top contenders for this year’s award as Can Xue, an avant garde Chinese novelist, and the Hungarian.

The Nobel Prize in Writing has been awarded on 117 prior instances since 1901. Recent laureates are Annie Ernaux, Dylan, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Louise Glück, the Austrian and Tokarczuk. The most recent honoree was Han Kang, the Korean writer renowned for her acclaimed novel.

Krasznahorkai will ceremonially be presented with the medal and document in a ceremony in the month of December in Stockholm, Sweden.

Additional details forthcoming