Oman today_ László Krasznahorkai, the acclaimed postmodern Hungarian writer, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature. In its official statement, the Swedish Academy said the prize recognizes his “compelling and profoundly reflective works that affirm the power of art amid apocalyptic fears.”
The 71-year-old author is best known for his dark, philosophical, and often haunting novels. Over the years, Krasznahorkai has solidified his place in contemporary literature, notably after receiving the International Man Booker Prize in 2015 and the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature in 2019.
A significant part of his literary legacy is tied to his long-standing collaboration with renowned Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr. Several of Krasznahorkai’s novels have been adapted into films directed by Tarr, including The Melancholy of Resistance and Satantango. Their partnership produced cinematic masterpieces such as Damnation (1988), Satantango (1994), Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), and The Turin Horse (2011) — works often praised as exceptional examples of the intersection between literature and film.
With this award, Krasznahorkai joins an illustrious list of Nobel laureates that includes Ernest Hemingway, Toni Morrison, Bob Dylan, and Kazuo Ishiguro. To date, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 117 times to a total of 121 laureates. Last year’s prize went to South Korean author Han Kang.
The Literature Prize is the fourth Nobel announced in 2025, following those in Medicine, Physics, and Chemistry. Each Nobel laureate receives 11 million Swedish kronor — roughly one million euros — along with a gold medal and an official diploma.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, with former U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly expressing keen interest in receiving it. The final Nobel of the year, the Prize in Economic Sciences, will be revealed on Monday.
As tradition dictates, the Nobel Prize award ceremony will take place on December 10 — the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.