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The prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature for this year has been granted to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, as revealed by the Swedish Academy.

The Jury commended the 71-year-old's "powerful and prophetic body of work that, amidst cataclysmic dread, reasserts the power of creative expression."

An Esteemed Career of Dystopian Narratives

Krasznahorkai is renowned for his dark, somber books, which have won many accolades, for instance the recent National Book Award for literature in translation and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Several of his books, among them his novels Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been turned into movies.

Debut Novel

Originating in a Hungarian locale in 1954, Krasznahorkai first made his mark with his mid-80s debut novel Satantango, a dark and captivating portrayal of a failing countryside settlement.

The work would go on to win the Man Booker International Prize recognition in translation nearly three decades later, in the 2010s.

A Distinctive Writing Approach

Commonly referred to as avant-garde, Krasznahorkai is renowned for his extended, meandering prose (the 12 chapters of his novel each are a single paragraph), dystopian and pensive themes, and the kind of unwavering power that has led literary experts to compare him to Gogol, Melville and Kafka.

This work was famously made into a lengthy movie by filmmaker Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a long working relationship.

"He is a remarkable author of grand narratives in the European heritage that includes Kafka to the Austrian writer, and is marked by absurdist elements and bizarre extremes," commented Anders Olsson, leader of the Nobel jury.

He characterized Krasznahorkai’s writing as having "evolved into … continuous syntax with extended, meandering phrases devoid of full stops that has become his signature."

Critical Acclaim

Susan Sontag has called the author as "the modern from Hungary genius of the apocalyptic," while the writer W.G. Sebald applauded the wide appeal of his perspective.

Just a small number of Krasznahorkai’s books have been translated into English translation. The reviewer James Wood once noted that his books "get passed around like rare currency."

Worldwide Travels

Krasznahorkai’s career has been influenced by journeys as much as by literature. He first left the communist his homeland in 1987, residing a year in Berlin for a scholarship, and later drew inspiration from Asia – notably Mongolia and China – for books such as one of his titles, and his book on China.

While writing this novel, he journeyed extensively across Europe and lived for a time in Allen Ginsberg’s New York residence, noting the famous writer's backing as crucial to finishing the book.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Asked how he would explain his writing in an interview, Krasznahorkai answered: "Letters; then from letters, words; then from these terms, some short sentences; then additional phrases that are longer, and in the primary very long phrases, for the span of three and a half decades. Beauty in writing. Enjoyment in darkness."

On audiences finding his books for the first time, he added: "Should there be people who are new to my novels, I couldn’t recommend any specific title to peruse to them; instead, I’d suggest them to step out, sit down somewhere, maybe by the banks of a creek, with nothing to do, nothing to think about, just being in quiet like boulders. They will sooner or later encounter a person who has already read my novels."

Nobel Prize Context

Prior to the declaration, oddsmakers had pegged the favourites for this annual award as Can Xue, an experimental Chinese novelist, and Krasznahorkai himself.

The Nobel Honor in Literary Arts has been awarded on one hundred seventeen prior instances since 1901. Latest recipients include the French author, the musician, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Louise Glück, Handke and the Polish author. Last year’s honoree was Han Kang, the South Korean novelist best known for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will formally be presented with the award and certificate in a event in winter in the Swedish capital.

Additional details forthcoming