Who is Laszlo Krasznahorkai? Hungarian novelist & writer of Satantango wins Nobel Prize in literature

Laszlo Krasznahorkai is a celebrated Hungarian novelist whose style is punctuated by a uniquely dystopian and absurdist worldview. In a career-defining milestone moment, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm has just announced that he will be the recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize in literature.

As per the official release, the Nobel committee applauded Krasznahorkai’s

“compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art”.

He is the second Hungarian to receive this distinction.

In response to the win, Laszlo Krasznahorkai shared the following words,

“I am deeply glad that I have received the Nobel prize – above all because this award proves that literature exists in itself, beyond various non-literary expectations, and that it is still being read."

He went on to add,

And for those who read it, it offers a certain hope that beauty, nobility, and the sublime still exist for their own sake. It may offer hope even to those in whom life itself only barely flickers.”

Laszlo Krasznahorkai - A Background

Laszlo Krasznahorkai was born in 1954 in the small town of Gyula in southeast Hungary. The area was remote and dour, and provided inspiration for his future writing, which took on a similarly gloomy perspective.

In fact, his first novel, Satantango, is set in a similar setting to where he was raised and served as a catalyst for his eventual rise as one of the world’s most respected authors.

Interestingly, the author was well-traveled, having spent significant periods across Central Europe, Asia, and the United States, experiences that clearly shaped his prose.

Though Laszlo Krasznahorkai has not been very outspoken over the years, he discussed how he views his writing in an interview with The Guardian from 2015,

"Letters; then from letters, words; then from these words, some short sentences; then more sentences that are longer, and in the main very long sentences, for the duration of 35 years. Beauty in language. Fun in hell.”

The author added,

“If there are readers who haven’t read my books, I couldn’t recommend anything to read to them; instead, I’d advise them to go out, sit down somewhere, perhaps by the side of a brook, with nothing to do, nothing to think about, just remaining in silence like stones. They will eventually meet someone who has already read my books.”

Laszlo Krasznahorkai will formally receive his maiden Nobel prize in a ceremony to be held in Stockholm sometime in December.

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