Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2025 for his “compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art,” the Nobel committee of the Swedish Academy announced on Thursday.

The 71-year-old author is known for his philosophical and darkly humorous novels, often written in single, winding sentences. His acclaimed works include Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, both adapted into films by Hungarian director Béla Tarr.

The Nobel judges praised Krasznahorkai’s “artistic gaze which is entirely free of illusion, and which sees through the fragility of the social order combined with his unwavering belief in the power of art.”

Krasznahorkai, who has earned numerous international honors, won the 2015 Man Booker International Prize for his “extraordinary sentences, sentences of incredible length that go to incredible lengths,” as the Booker judges described. He also received the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature in 2019 for Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming.

He is the first Hungarian Nobel laureate in literature since Imre Kertész, who won the prize in 2002.

The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 117 times to a total of 121 laureates. Last year’s award went to South Korean author Han Kang, recognized for her body of work that “confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

This year’s literature award follows the announcements of the 2025 Nobel Prizes in medicine, physics, and chemistry. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, while the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be revealed on Monday.

The Nobel Prize award ceremonies will be held on December 10, marking the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896. Each Nobel laureate will receive 11 million Swedish kronor (nearly USD 1.2 million), along with an 18-carat gold medal and a diploma.