2025 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai (born 1954) "for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art." He is the second Hungarian Nobel laureate in Literature after Imre Kertész in 2002.

2025 Nobel Prize in Literature
László Krasznahorkai
"for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art."
Date	9 October 2025 (announcement) 10 December 2025 (ceremony)
Location	Stockholm, Sweden
Presented by	Swedish Academy
First award	1901
Website	2025 Nobel Prize in Literature
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Laureate

Main article: László Krasznahorkai

A Hungarian novelist and screenwriter known for his dense, philosophical prose and apocalyptic vision of modern life, Krasznahorkai gained international recognition with his debut novel Satantango (1985), a haunting portrayal of decay and despair in a collapsing village, later adapted into a film by Béla Tarr. His writing often explores chaos, isolation, and the search for meaning in an unstable world.

Among his acclaimed works are The Melancholy of Resistance (1989), War and War (1999), and Seiobo There Below (2008), which won the Best Translated Book Award. His collaborations with Béla Tarr, especially Werckmeister Harmonies, brought his dark, meditative storytelling to global audiences. Krasznahorkai’s style—marked by long, winding sentences and profound reflection—has earned him the reputation as one of Europe’s most challenging and visionary contemporary writers.

Reactions

Writing for The Atlantic, Walt Hunter said: "László Krasznahorkai is unusually experimental for a Nobel Prize winner, but in an unstable world, his selection feels perfectly timely."^[1]

"Krasznahorkai richly deserves the prize", novelist Hari Kunzru said. “He has a reputation as an austere figure of European high culture, and indeed some of his work is uncompromisingly bleak and difficult, but he’s also a curious, playful and very funny writer."^[2]

Nobel Committee

The 2025 Nobel Committee consists of the following members:^[3]

Committee Members
Seat No.	Picture	Name	Elected	Position	Profession
4		Anders Olsson (b. 1949)	2008	committee chair	literary critic, literary historian
11		Mats Malm (b. 1964)	2018	associate member permanent secretary	translator, literary historian, editor
9		Ellen Mattson (b. 1963)	2019	member	novelist, essayist
14		Steve Sem-Sandberg (b. 1958)	2021	member	journalist, author, translator
13		Anne Swärd (b. 1969)	2019	member	novelist
16		Anna-Karin Palm (b. 1961)	2023	associate member	novelist, culture writer