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The coveted Nobel Prize in Literature for this year has been granted to Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, as announced by the Nobel awarding body.

The Committee commended the author's "gripping and imaginative oeuvre that, within end-times dread, reasserts the force of creative expression."

A Renowned Path of Dystopian Narratives

Krasznahorkai is known for his bleak, somber works, which have won several accolades, including the recent National Book Award for translated literature and the prestigious Man Booker International Prize.

Several of his novels, among them his titles his debut and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been made into movies.

Initial Success

Born in the Hungarian town of Gyula in 1954, Krasznahorkai first gained recognition with his mid-80s debut novel Satantango, a bleak and mesmerising representation of a disintegrating village society.

The novel would go on to win the Man Booker International Prize honor in the English language many years later, in 2013.

An Unconventional Prose Technique

Commonly referred to as postmodernist, Krasznahorkai is known for his long, winding phrases (the 12 chapters of the book each are a single paragraph), bleak and somber subjects, and the kind of relentless intensity that has led literary experts to draw parallels with Kafka, Melville, and Gogol.

The novel was widely adapted into a seven-hour film by filmmaker Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a enduring artistic collaboration.

"The author is a significant author of grand narratives in the Central European heritage that includes Franz Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterised by the absurd and bizarre extremes," stated the Nobel chair, leader of the Nobel jury.

He portrayed Krasznahorkai’s style as having "evolved into … continuous syntax with lengthy, intricate phrases without punctuation that has become his trademark."

Critical Acclaim

Susan Sontag has called the author as "the contemporary Hungarian genius of apocalypse," while Sebald praised the broad relevance of his vision.

Only a few of Krasznahorkai’s books have been published in the English language. The critic Wood once remarked that his books "circulate like valuable artifacts."

Worldwide Travels

Krasznahorkai’s professional journey has been influenced by travel as much as by language. He first left communist the country in 1987, staying a period in West Berlin for a scholarship, and later found inspiration from east Asia – particularly Asian nations – for novels such as a specific work, and another novel.

While developing this novel, he explored across Europe and stayed in Ginsberg's New York home, stating the renowned Beat poet's support as essential to finishing the novel.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Questioned how he would explain his writing in an interview, Krasznahorkai said: "Letters; then from these characters, vocabulary; then from these words, some brief phrases; then further lines that are lengthier, and in the main extremely lengthy paragraphs, for the period of three and a half decades. Beauty in writing. Fun in hell."

On audiences encountering his work for the first time, he continued: "Should there be people who have not yet read my novels, I would not suggest anything to explore to them; instead, I’d recommend them to venture outside, rest somewhere, maybe by the side of a brook, with nothing to do, nothing to think about, just being in quiet like rocks. They will in time meet someone who has already read my works."

Literature Prize History

Before the announcement, bookmakers had ranked the frontrunners for this year's prize as the Chinese writer, an experimental from China writer, and Krasznahorkai.

The Nobel Honor in Writing has been given on 117 previous occasions since 1901. Latest winners have included Annie Ernaux, Bob Dylan, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Glück, the Austrian and Tokarczuk. The previous year's recipient was Han Kang, the South Korean writer renowned for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will officially receive the prize medal and diploma in a event in winter in the Swedish capital.

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