The 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai (born 1954) "for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art." He is the second Hungarian Nobel laureate in Literature after Imre Kertész in 2002.
| 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature | |
|---|---|
| László Krasznahorkai | |
"for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art." | |
| Date |
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| Location | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Presented by | Swedish Academy |
| First award | 1901 |
| Website | 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature |
Nobel Prize in Literature | |
Laureate
A Hungarian novelist and screenwriter known for his dense, philosophical prose and apocalyptic vision of modern life, Krasznahorkai gained international recognition with his debut novel Satantango (1985), a haunting portrayal of decay and despair in a collapsing village, later adapted into a film by Béla Tarr. His writing often explores chaos, isolation, and the search for meaning in an unstable world.
Among his acclaimed works are The Melancholy of Resistance (1989), War and War (1999), and Seiobo There Below (2008), which won the Best Translated Book Award. His collaborations with Béla Tarr, especially Werckmeister Harmonies, brought his dark, meditative storytelling to global audiences. Krasznahorkai’s style—marked by long, winding sentences and profound reflection—has earned him the reputation as one of Europe’s most challenging and visionary contemporary writers.
Candidates
László Krasznahorkai was one of the favourites to win the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature along with Chinese author Can Xue, Canadian Margaret Atwood, Japanese Haruki Murakami and Salman Rushdie. Other possible candidates speculated about in the media and appearing on betting lists included Australian Gerald Murnane, Hungarian Péter Nádas, American Thomas Pynchon, Canadian Anne Carson, Spanish Enrique Vila-Matas, French Michel Houellebecq, Romanian Mircea Cărtărescu and the Antigua born Jamaica Kincaid.
Reactions
Writing for The Atlantic, Walt Hunter said: "László Krasznahorkai is unusually experimental for a Nobel Prize winner, but in an unstable world, his selection feels perfectly timely."
"Krasznahorkai richly deserves the prize", novelist Hari Kunzru said. “He has a reputation as an austere figure of European high culture, and indeed some of his work is uncompromisingly bleak and difficult, but he’s also a curious, playful and very funny writer."
Nobel Committee
The 2025 Nobel Committee consists of the following members:
| Committee Members | |||||
| Seat No. | Picture | Name | Elected | Position | Profession |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Anders Olsson (b. 1949) | 2008 | committee chair | literary critic, literary historian | |
| 11 | Mats Malm (b. 1964) | 2018 | associate member permanent secretary | translator, literary historian, editor | |
| 9 | Ellen Mattson (b. 1963) | 2019 | member | novelist, essayist | |
| 14 | Steve Sem-Sandberg (b. 1958) | 2021 | member | journalist, author, translator | |
| 13 | Anne Swärd (b. 1969) | 2019 | member | novelist | |
| 16 | Anna-Karin Palm (b. 1961) | 2023 | associate member | novelist, culture writer | |
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