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The prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature for this year has been awarded to Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, as revealed by the Swedish Academy.

The Jury highlighted the seventy-one-year-old's "powerful and prophetic collection that, in the midst of end-times dread, reasserts the strength of creative expression."

An Esteemed Career of Dystopian Writing

Krasznahorkai is renowned for his dystopian, melancholic works, which have earned several awards, for instance the 2019 National Book Award for translated literature and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Many of his novels, including his titles his debut and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been made into movies.

Initial Success

Hailing in a Hungarian locale in the mid-1950s, Krasznahorkai first made his mark with his mid-80s debut novel his seminal novel, a dark and captivating representation of a failing rural community.

The novel would go on to win the Man Booker International Prize recognition in translation nearly three decades later, in the 2010s.

A Distinctive Prose Technique

Often described as postmodern, Krasznahorkai is famous for his lengthy, intricate sentences (the twelve chapters of Satantango each comprise a one paragraph), bleak and pensive motifs, and the kind of unwavering force that has led literary experts to draw parallels with Gogol, Melville and Kafka.

The novel was widely made into a extended film by cinematic artist Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a lengthy creative partnership.

"The author is a significant writer of epic tales in the Central European heritage that extends through Kafka to Bernhard, and is marked by the absurd and grotesque excess," said the committee chair, head of the Nobel panel.

He portrayed Krasznahorkai’s prose as having "progressed to … continuous syntax with long, winding sentences lacking full stops that has become his trademark."

Expert Opinions

Sontag has referred to the author as "the modern Hungarian expert of the apocalyptic," while WG Sebald applauded the wide appeal of his perspective.

Just a small number of Krasznahorkai’s novels have been rendered in English translation. The reviewer James Wood once remarked that his books "are shared like valuable artifacts."

Global Influences

Krasznahorkai’s professional journey has been shaped by exploration as much as by literature. He first departed from communist the country in the late 80s, spending a twelve months in Berlin for a fellowship, and later drew inspiration from Eastern Asia – notably China and Mongolia – for works such as a specific work, and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens.

While writing War and War, he journeyed extensively across the continent and lived for a time in the legendary poet's New York apartment, noting the renowned Beat poet's assistance as crucial to finalizing the work.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Inquired how he would explain his oeuvre in an discussion, Krasznahorkai said: "Letters; then from these characters, words; then from these words, some brief phrases; then more sentences that are longer, and in the main exceptionally extended sentences, for the span of 35 years. Elegance in language. Enjoyment in darkness."

On readers finding his work for the initial encounter, he noted: "If there are individuals who have not yet read my novels, I would not suggest anything to explore to them; rather, I’d suggest them to go out, sit down in a place, perhaps by the edge of a stream, with no obligations, nothing to think about, just being in tranquility like stones. They will eventually come across someone who has previously read my novels."

Award Background

Prior to the declaration, oddsmakers had ranked the frontrunners for this year’s prize as the Chinese writer, an experimental Chinese novelist, and Krasznahorkai himself.

The Nobel Honor in Writing has been presented on 117 previous occasions since the early 20th century. Recent recipients have included the French author, Dylan, Gurnah, Louise Glück, Handke and Olga Tokarczuk. Last year’s winner was Han Kang, the from South Korea writer best known for her acclaimed novel.

Krasznahorkai will formally receive the award and document in a function in December in Stockholm.

Updates to come