On 9 October 2025, the Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, citing his “compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”

Krasznahorkai has long been considered a leading contender for the Nobel Prize. His novels are known for their experimental style – Herscht 07769, for instance, is composed of a single, unbroken sentence spanning more than 400 pages – and for their bleak, often apocalyptic tone.

He made his literary debut in 1985 with Satantango, a dark, allegorical tale set in a desolate Hungarian village whose inhabitants fall under the sway of the enigmatic Irimias. This self-proclaimed prophet draws them into a spiral of paranoia, delusion, and betrayal.

In 2015, Krasznahorkai received the International Booker Prize (for his body of work rather than for a particular book), further cementing his reputation as one of Europe’s most original literary voices.

Not afraid to push artistic boundaries, he has also ventured into multimedia experimentation. In his novella Chasing Homer, each chapter contains a QR code that links to a piece of music to accompany the text – an innovative fusion of literature and sound.

Members of the Swedish Academy have shared their recommendations for readers wishing to explore Krasznahorkai’s work, in particular his novels Satantango (1985) (recommended by Steve Sem-Sandberg), The Melancholy of Resistance (1989) (recommended by Ellen Mattson), Seiobo There Below (2008) (recommended by Anders Olsson), and Herscht 07769: A Novel (2021) (recommended by Anna-Karin Palm).

(What to read: László Krasznahorkai. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2025. Thu. 6 Nov 2025)

Bart Van Besien