The Swedish Academy awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature to Hungarian novelist and screenwriter László Krasznahorkai, known for his challenging novels with bleak dystopian themes. Several of his works have been adapted into feature films, including Satan Tango (1985) and The Melancholy of Resistance (1989).
In announcing the award to the Hungarian novelist, the prestigious prize committee said, "His compelling and visionary works affirm the power of art."
The committee described the winner as "a great epic writer in the Central European tradition, stretching from Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and characterized by absurdity and bizarre excess."
It added, "László Krasznahorkai also looks East, adopting a more reflective and nuanced approach. The result is a series of works inspired by the profound impressions left by his travels in China and Japan."
Critics have described his novel Herscht 07769 as "a great contemporary German novel, due to its accurate portrayal of the country's social unrest."
Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai wins the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature
