The 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday, went to Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai for his “compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”
Krasznahorkai is now a member of a famous group of literary winners that includes Ernest Hemingway, Toni Morrison, and Kazuo Ishiguro.
Krasznahorkai was born in 1954 in Gyula, a small town in southeastern Hungary. His debut novel, Sátántangó, was released in 1985 and became a huge hit, making him famous. Another important book is Aprómunka egy palotáért: bejárás mások őrületébe (Spadework for a Palace: Entering the Madness of Others, 2020), which came out in 2018.
In the Central European tradition, Krasznahorkai is known as a great epic writer. He follows in the footsteps of Kafka and Thomas Bernhard and has a unique style that includes absurdism and grotesque excess.
The Nobel Committee declared, “His work reaffirms the power of art in confronting apocalyptic terror.”
Since it started, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been given to 121 people 117 times. Last year, the prize went to Han Kang, a South Korean author whose work “confronts historical traumas and shows how fragile human life is.”
This week, there have been four Nobel prizes announced: one in medicine, one in physics, and one in chemistry. On December 10, the award ceremony will take place. This day marks the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896. Every winner gets 11 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million), an 18-carat gold medal, and a diploma.