The 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai on Thursday (October 9) “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”
The Nobel Prize Committee described Krasznahorkai as a “great epic writer in the Central European tradition that extends through Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterised by absurdism and grotesque excess.”
Who is László Krasznahorkai?
László Krasznahorkai was born in 1954 in the small town of Gyula in southeast Hungary, near the Romanian border.
A similar remote rural area is the scene of Krasznahorkai’s first novel ‘Sátántangó’, published in 1985 (‘Satantango’, 2012), which was a literary sensation in Hungary and the author’s breakthrough work.
László Krasznahorkai’s works in English
1. The Melancholy of Resistance / translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes. – London : Quartet Books, 1998. – Translation of: Az ellenállás melankóliája
2. War & War / translated from the Hungarian by Georges Szirtes. – New York : New Directions, 2006. – Translation of: Háború és háború
3. Animalinside / pictures: Max Neumann ; translated from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet. Cahiers series, 14. – Paris : Center for Writers & Translators, the American University of Paris ; London : Sylph, 2010. – Translation of: ÁllatVanBent
4. Satantango / translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes. – New York : New Directions, 2012. – Translation of: Sátántangó
4. The Bill : For Palma Vecchio, at Venice / translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes. The art monographs, 2. – London : Sylph, 2013
6. Seiobo There Below / translated from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet. – New York : New Directions, 2013. – Translation of: Seiobo járt odalent
7. Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens : Reportage / translated from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet. – London : Seagull Books, 2016. – Translation of: Rombolás és bánat az Ég alatt
8. The Last Wolf and Herman / translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes and John Batki. – New York : New Directions, 2016. – Translation of: Az utolsó farkas
9. The Manhattan Project : A Literary Diary Presented as Twelve Chance Encounters or Coincidences / alongside a photographic essay by Ornan Rotem ; translated from the Hungarian by John Batki. – London : Sylph, 2017. – Translation of: A Manhattan-terv
10. The World Goes On / translated from the Hungarian by John Bátki, Ottilie Mulzet and George Szirtes. – New York : New Directions, 2017. – Translation of: Megy a világ
11. Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming / translated from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet. – New York: New Directions, 2019. – Translation of: Báró Wenckheim hazatér
12. Spadework for a Palace : Entering the Madness of Others / translated from the Hungarian by John Batki. – New York : New Directions, 2020. – Translation of: Aprómunka egy palotáért
13. Chasing Homer : Good Luck, and Nothing Else : Odysseus’s Cave / with art by Max Neumann ; with music by Szilveszter Miklós ; translated from the Hungarian by John Batki. – New York : New Directions, 2021. – Translation of: Mindig Homérosznak : jó szerencse, semmi más : Odisejeva Spilja
14. A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East / translated from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet. – New York : New Directions, 2022. – Translation of: Északról hegy, Délről tó, Nyugatról utak, Keletről folyó
15. Herscht 07769 : A Novel / translated from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet. – New York : New Directions, 2024. – Translation of: Herscht 07769 : Florian Herscht Bach-regénye
Who is László Krasznahorkai, Hungarian author, 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature 2025, Nobel Prize 2025
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