Literature 2025 · Announced Oct 9
László Krasznahorkai
A Hungarian novelist of long sentences and dark comedy.
Born 1954 · Hungary · Novelist
40 yrs
The wait, from his first novel (1985) to the prize
1954
Year born
Solo
Won this prize alone
Oct 9
Announced in 2025
Their part in the prize
Krasznahorkai is a Hungarian writer. His novels are dark, strange and funny, often set in small towns falling apart. Some sentences run for pages.
Why it matters
He shows how art can still matter when everything seems to be ending.
The road to the prize
- 1985First novel: Satantango.
- 1989The Melancholy of Resistance.
- 1994Béla Tarr's seven-hour film of Satantango.
- 2015Wins the Man Booker International Prize.
- 2025Nobel Prize in Literature.
The official reason
"for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art"