The Hungarian writer was awarded ‘for his fascinating and visionary work which, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art’
O of Literature in 2025 was awarded to Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai “for his powerful and visionary work which, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art”, announced this Thursday (9) the Swedish Academy. Born in 1954, in the small town of Gyula, in the southeast of near the Romanian border, Krasznahorkai rose to prominence with his debut novel Sátántangó (published in 1985 and translated as Satantango in 2012). The work portrays, with a strong symbolic charge, a group of residents of an abandoned collective farm in the Hungarian countryside, shortly before the fall of communism.
The book became a literary phenomenon in the country and marked the beginning of the author’s international career. In 1994, it was adapted for the in partnership with director Béla Tarr, resulting in one of the most influential films in contemporary European cinema. North American critic Susan Sontag classified Krasznahorkai as the “master of the apocalypse” in contemporary literature, after reading his second novel, The Melancholy of Resistance (1989).
Recognized for his dense prose and dark atmosphere, Krasznahorkai is considered one of the most original voices in European literature, exploring themes such as hope, destruction and the human condition in the face of chaos.
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