Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai, distinguished in 2025 with the Nobel Prize for Literature, spoke for the first time about the significance of this moment.
Laszlo Krasznahorkai won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2025. Photo: Profimedia
In an interview, the Hungarian writer sent a profound message about the role of literature and the hope it can offer in an increasingly chaotic and uncertain world.
Shortly after being announced as the Laureate of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2025, Laszlo Krasznahorkai gave his first interview, by telephone, expressing his emotion and belief that literature remains a living force.
“This award proves that literature exists in itself, beyond various extreliteration expectations, and that it is still read”, said the author. “And to those who read it gives them a certain hope that beauty, nobility and sublime still exist unconditionally. It can offer hope even to those where life is barely flickering. To trust, even if there is no reason,” he added.
“I am very proud to be among some truly great writers and poets,” said László Krasznahorkai. The distinction, he says, came as a surprise, but also as a confirmation of the importance of literature as a form of resistance and introspection.
In his conversation with Nobelprize journalists, the author spoke about his own inspiration and how negative emotions can become a creative impulse. Krasznahorkai believes that bitterness and reflection on the world around can be transformed into authentic art, with the help of imagination.
“Without imagination, life would be completely different. Reading gives us more power to survive these very difficult times on earth“Said the writer, emphasizing that reading and literary creation offer people an inner refuge in an increasingly chaotic world.
Krasznahorkai also explained his intimate relationship with the writing process, which he sees as a deeply personal experience, far from the eyes of others.
“In fact, writing is a personal matter to me. Usually, I never talk about what I write and I never show my friends, writers and wonderful poets. I write a book, then I give it to my publishers and I need some time after. Then there comes a day and I start with a new book, to make it better,” he confessed.
For László Krasznahorkai, literature remains a form of hope, a proof that despite the hardships of the modern world, the power of imagination and written word continues to inspire and save.
The Swedish Academy announced the decision on Thursday, October 9, mentioning in the official motivation “The convincing and visionary work of the 71 -year -old author, who, in the middle of the apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”
Known for his complex, meditative and often dark style, Laszlo Krasznahorkai is one of the most appreciated contemporary European writers, his novels “Satantango” and “Melancholy of Resistance” being translated into numerous languages and adapted to the big screen.
Throughout his career, the author has been rewarded with important literary distinctions, including the International Booker (2015) and the National Prize for Translated Literature (2019).
The reactions in the literary world after designating the winner of the Nobl Prize for literature have not been delayed. The novelist Colm Tóibín described Krasznahorkai Law “A unique literary visionary, which opened a vast and rich space in the contemporary novel, showing what can be achieved.”
For his part, the writer Hari Kunzru said: “Krasznahorkai fully deserves this award. It has the reputation of an austere figure of the high European culture and, indeed, some of his works are uncompromising and difficult, but he is also a curious, playful and very funny writer.
Through this award, Laszlo Krasznahorkai becomes the second Hungarian writer rewarded with the nobel for literature, after Imre Kertész (2002), confirming once again the aesthetic force and the depth of thought that define the Literature of Central Europe.
