László Krasznahorkai wins Nobel Prize 2025 in Literature: How to pronounce the Hungarian author’s name
The for 2025 has been awarded to László Krasznahorkai, the Swedish Academy announced on Thursday. The 70-year-old writer was honored “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.” Known for his dense, poetic prose and philosophical depth, Krasznahorkai’s works have long captivated readers around the world.
The author, speaking to Sweden’s Sveriges Radio, said, “I’m very happy, I’m calm and very nervous altogether.” With this win, he joins the ranks of global literary giants- and becomes the second Hungarian to receive the Nobel after Imre Kertész in 2002. But as readers rush to learn more about the writer, one question has quickly surfaced online: how do you spell, or even pronounce, his name?
Krasznahorkai (surname) sounds like Krahs-nah-hor-kai, where each syllable flows evenly, reflecting the rhythm typical of Hungarian names.
The spelling often confuses English speakers due to the unique Hungarian use of consonant clusters like “sz” (which sounds like “s”) and “cs” (which would sound like “ch”). Remember- the accent over the ‘á’ in László marks a longer vowel sound, which is an essential part of proper Hungarian pronunciation.
Who is László Krasznahorkai?
Born in 1954, Krasznahorkai rose to prominence in 1985 with his debut novel Satantango, hailed by the Swedish Academy as “a literary sensation.” The novel was later adapted into a seven-hour black-and-white film by director Béla Tarr. His other major works include The Melancholy of Resistance (1989), War and War (1999), and Seiobo There Below (2008).
He previously won the 2015 Man Booker International Prize and the 2013 Best Translated Book Award. His writing, steeped in Central European absurdism and moral inquiry, continues to reaffirm the enduring power of art — and now, his beautifully intricate name is one the world won’t soon forget.
About-
László Krasznahorkai is a great epic writer in the Central European tradition that extends through Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterised by absurdism and grotesque excess. But there are more strings to his bow, and he soon looks to the East in adopting a more contemplative, finely calibrated tone. The result is a string of works inspired by the deep-seated impressions left by his journeys to China and Japan. About the search for a secret garden, his 2003 novel Északról hegy, Délről tó, Nyugatról utak, Keletről folyó (A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East, 2022) is a mysterious tale with powerful lyrical sections that takes place southeast of Kyoto. The work has the sense of a prelude to the rich Seiobo járt odalent (2008; Seiobo There Below, 2013), a collection of seventeen stories arranged in a Fibonacci sequence about the role of beauty and artistic creation in a world of blindness and impermanence. Alongside his quintet of epics, it represents Krasznahorkai’s major work. Particularly unforgettable is its opening scene in which a snow-white heron stands motionless in the middle of the River Kamo in Kyoto, waiting for its victim in the whirlpools below. Invisible to the masses of people passing by, the bird becomes an elusive image of the particular situation of the artist.
The common thread running through the book is the Japanese myth concerning Seiobo, who according to legend protects the garden which, every three thousand years, produces fruit that grants immortality. In the book, the myth is about the creation of a work of art and, in a string of episodes, we follow the genesis of such a work in the most diverse of times and environments. Often the act of creation occurs after a lengthy period of preparation marked by tradition and practiced craftsmanship. Works may also come about as a result of delayed or confused circumstances, as in the story of the perilous transport of an unfinished painting by the renowned Renaissance artist Pietro Vannucci from Florence to Perugia, the city of the latter’s birth. While everyone believes that Perugino, as he is commonly known, has given up painting, it is in Perugia that a miracle takes place.
The artist himself is, as so often in Seiobo There Below, absent from these stories. Instead, we are presented with figures that stand slightly to one side of the work that is soon to come into being. These might include janitors, onlookers or devoted craftsmen, who rarely or indeed never comprehend the meaning of the work in which they participate. The book is a masterful portrayal, in the course of which the reader is led through a row of ‘side doors’ to the inexplicable act of creation.
Another captivating work that showcases László Krasznahorkai’s breadth and literary register is the shorter story Aprómunka egy palotáért: bejárás mások őrületébe (Spadework for a Palace: Entering the Madness of Others, 2020) published in 2018. This extremely entertaining and rather madcap tale takes place in a Manhattan haunted by the ghosts of the great Herman Melville, who once lived there, and his fanatic admirers. It is a book about not only the curse of imitation but also the blessing of resistance. It may or may not be melancholy.
Source
Anders Olsson
Chair of the Nobel Committee
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