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The world-renowned Nobel Prize in Literature for this year has been granted to from Hungary author László Krasznahorkai, as announced by the Nobel awarding body.

The Academy highlighted the seventy-one-year-old's "compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of cataclysmic dread, reasserts the strength of art."

An Esteemed Career of Bleak Narratives

Krasznahorkai is renowned for his bleak, pensive books, which have garnered numerous accolades, such as the 2019 National Book Award for international writing and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Many of his works, among them his fictional works Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been made into feature films.

Debut Novel

Hailing in a Hungarian locale in 1954, Krasznahorkai first gained recognition with his 1985 debut novel Satantango, a bleak and captivating portrayal of a collapsing rural community.

The book would eventually secure the Man Booker International Prize recognition in the English language nearly three decades later, in 2013.

An Unconventional Writing Approach

Often described as postmodern, Krasznahorkai is known for his lengthy, intricate sentences (the 12 chapters of the book each consist of a one paragraph), bleak and somber motifs, and the kind of unwavering intensity that has led reviewers to compare him to Gogol, Melville and Kafka.

Satantango was widely transformed into a lengthy movie by director Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a long artistic collaboration.

"The author is a remarkable writer of epic tales in the Central European heritage that includes Kafka to the Austrian writer, and is marked by absurdist elements and bizarre extremes," stated Anders Olsson, head of the Nobel panel.

He described Krasznahorkai’s writing as having "progressed to … smooth language with lengthy, intricate sentences lacking punctuation that has become his hallmark."

Critical Acclaim

Susan Sontag has referred to the author as "the contemporary from Hungary expert of end-times," while WG Sebald commended the universality of his outlook.

Just a small number of Krasznahorkai’s works have been published in English. The literary critic James Wood once remarked that his books "are shared like valuable artifacts."

Worldwide Travels

Krasznahorkai’s professional journey has been shaped by exploration as much as by language. He first left socialist his homeland in 1987, staying a period in Berlin for a fellowship, and later found inspiration from Asia – particularly Asian nations – for books such as a specific work, and his book on China.

While writing War and War, he journeyed extensively across the continent and lived for a time in Allen Ginsberg’s New York residence, stating the legendary Beat poet's assistance as vital to finishing the book.

Author's Perspective

Asked how he would describe his work in an interview, Krasznahorkai responded: "Letters; then from letters, vocabulary; then from these words, some brief phrases; then further lines that are longer, and in the primary exceptionally extended sentences, for the duration of decades. Beauty in writing. Fun in darkness."

On readers discovering his writing for the first time, he noted: "If there are individuals who have not yet read my books, I would refrain from advising anything to explore to them; rather, I’d recommend them to go out, settle at a location, perhaps by the edge of a stream, with nothing to do, no thoughts, just staying in quiet like rocks. They will in time come across a person who has already read my books."

Nobel Prize Context

Prior to the declaration, bookmakers had pegged the frontrunners for this annual honor as Can Xue, an innovative Chinese author, and the Hungarian.

The Nobel Award in Literature has been awarded on over a hundred previous occasions since 1901. Latest laureates are the French author, Dylan, the Tanzanian-born writer, Louise Glück, Peter Handke and Olga Tokarczuk. Last year’s winner was Han Kang, the South Korean writer renowned for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will officially be presented with the medal and document in a function in the month of December in Stockholm.

Updates to come