Hungarian Author László Krasznahorkai Wins the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature

On October 9, 2025, in Stockholm, Sweden, the Swedish Academy announced that the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 was awarded to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art. The prize is worth 11 million Swedish kronor.

Krasznahorkai was born in 1954 in the town of Gyula in southeastern Hungary and is now considered one of the most important authors in Hungary. He has written novels, short stories, essays and plays, and many of his books have been made into movies. His novels are often described as apocalyptic, depicting people and societies where the end seems near, in settings and characters that are gloomy, yet with humour in the texts as well.

One example is The Melancholy of Resistance, which the Swedish Academy describes as a feverish horror fantasy. Set in a small Hungarian town after the fall of the Soviet Union, it tells of a ghostly circus that arrives displaying the carcass of a giant whale, awakening extreme forces and violence that not even the military can put an end to. Another novel, Herscht 07769, is about Florian Herscht, a gentle graffiti cleaner who wants nothing more than to listen to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and writes letters to Chancellor Angela Merkel to warn her that the end of the universe is near.

His style consists of long, winding sentences that often span several pages. Herscht 07769 is written in a single sentence spanning more than 300 pages, with no chapters or paragraphs and only a single period, but many commas. Krasznahorkai has said that he does not trust short sentences, that people do not speak with periods but with commas. After the prize was announced, he encouraged everyone to use their imagination and to read and enjoy books, because reading gives us more power to survive these very difficult times on Earth.

Related: Venezuelan Opposition Leader Machado Wins the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

(Source: The Swedish Academy)

Source: The Swedish Academy

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：克拉斯诺霍尔卡伊·拉斯洛2012年在一场书展上签书。Derzsi Elekes Andor，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: László Krasznahorkai signing books at a book festival in 2012. By Derzsi Elekes Andor, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Latest in World

On 78th Anniversary of the Tokyo Trial Verdict, China's Foreign Ministry Calls for Resisting Any Revival of Militarism2026-11-12China's Foreign Ministry Responds to G7 Joint Statement, Urging the Group to Mind Its Own Affairs2026-11-12