Nobel Prize in literature goes to Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai
THE Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Thursday (October 9, 2025) that it has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Literature for the year 2025 to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”.
Born in 1954 in a town near the Romanian border Mr. Krasznahorkai became a literary sensation in Hungary with his first novel ‘Sátántangó published in 1985 (‘Satantango’, 2012).
His ‘Herscht 07769’ published this year, is described as a great contemporary German novel, on account of its accuracy in portraying the country’s social unrest.
His other notable works include 2003 novel ‘Északról hegy, Délről tó, Nyugatról utak, Keletről folyó’ (‘A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East’, 2022), and ‘Seiobo járt odalent’ (2008; ‘Seiobo There Below’, 2013).
‘Seiobo There Below’ is a collection of 17 stories arranged in a Fibonacci sequence about the role of beauty and artistic creation in a world of blindness and impermanence.
In ‘Herscht 07769’ we find ourselves not in a feverish nightmare in the Carpathians but rather a credible portrayal of a contemporary small town in Thüringen, Germany, which is nevertheless also afflicted by social anarchy, murder and arson. At the same time, the terror of the novel plays out against the backdrop of Johann Sebastian Bach’s powerful legacy. It is a book, written in a single breath, about violence and beauty ‘impossibly’ conjoined, the Nobel Committee’s statement said.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to South Korean writer Han Kang.
The Nobel Prize announcement week kicked off with the Prize for Physiology or Medicine on Monday (October 6), followed by Physics on Tuesday (October 7) and Chemistry on Wednesday (October 8). The winners of the Peace and Economic Sciences Prizes will be declared on October 10, and October 13, respectively.
The prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately ₹1.03 crore) and will be awarded on December 10.
The Nobel Prize was created by Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who in his will dictated that his estate should be used to fund “prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”.
