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The coveted Nobel Prize in Literature for this year has been granted to from Hungary author László Krasznahorkai, as announced by the committee.

The Committee praised the author's "gripping and imaginative body of work that, within apocalyptic dread, confirms the power of the arts."

An Esteemed Career of Apocalyptic Writing

Krasznahorkai is renowned for his bleak, melancholic novels, which have earned numerous accolades, such as the recent National Book Award for literature in translation and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

A number of of his works, notably his titles Satantango and another major work, have been adapted into feature films.

Early Beginnings

Hailing in the Hungarian town of Gyula in the mid-1950s, Krasznahorkai first gained recognition with his mid-80s first book Satantango, a dark and hypnotic portrayal of a collapsing rural community.

The book would go on to secure the Man Booker International Prize honor in the English language many years later, in the 2010s.

A Distinctive Prose Technique

Commonly referred to as postmodernist, Krasznahorkai is renowned for his lengthy, intricate sentences (the dozen sections of his novel each consist of a one paragraph), apocalyptic and pensive themes, and the kind of persistent intensity that has led reviewers to liken him to literary giants like Kafka.

This work was famously adapted into a seven-hour motion picture by filmmaker Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a enduring creative partnership.

"He is a significant epic writer in the European tradition that traces back to Kafka to Bernhard, and is marked by the absurd and grotesque exaggeration," commented the committee chair, chair of the Nobel panel.

He described Krasznahorkai’s writing as having "evolved into … smooth language with extended, meandering sentences devoid of punctuation that has become his trademark."

Literary Praise

Sontag has described the author as "today's from Hungary master of apocalypse," while Sebald applauded the universality of his perspective.

Only a few of Krasznahorkai’s works have been translated into English. The reviewer James Wood once wrote that his books "are shared like precious items."

Global Influences

Krasznahorkai’s literary path has been shaped by journeys as much as by literature. He first exited communist his homeland in 1987, residing a year in West Berlin for a grant, and later found inspiration from east Asia – particularly Mongolia and China – for books such as The Prisoner of Urga, and another novel.

While working on this novel, he journeyed extensively across European nations and stayed in the legendary poet's New York home, noting the famous writer's assistance as vital to completing the novel.

Writer's Own Words

Asked how he would characterize his writing in an discussion, Krasznahorkai responded: "Letters; then from these characters, vocabulary; then from these terms, some concise lines; then more sentences that are more extended, and in the main exceptionally extended paragraphs, for the period of three and a half decades. Elegance in writing. Enjoyment in darkness."

On fans discovering his work for the first time, he added: "For any readers who have not yet read my works, I would not suggest anything to peruse to them; rather, I’d recommend them to go out, sit down in a place, perhaps by the edge of a stream, with nothing to do, a clear mind, just being in quiet like stones. They will eventually encounter a person who has already read my works."

Award Background

Prior to the declaration, bookmakers had listed the frontrunners for this year’s prize as an avant-garde author, an experimental from China writer, and Krasznahorkai himself.

The Nobel Prize in Literary Arts has been awarded on over a hundred past events since the early 20th century. Recent winners have included Annie Ernaux, Bob Dylan, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Glück, Peter Handke and Olga Tokarczuk. The previous year's recipient was Han Kang, the Korean writer renowned for her acclaimed novel.

Krasznahorkai will officially accept the award and document in a event in the month of December in the Swedish capital.

Additional details forthcoming