This year, the Swedish Academy has awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, a decision announced on Thursday in Stockholm.
The author received the prize for his visionary body of work, which affirms the power of art amid apocalyptic terror, said Mats Malm, Secretary of the Swedish Academy. He also noted that he managed to reach Krasznahorkai, who was in Frankfurt at the time, by phone before the announcement.
“László Krasznahorkai is a great epic writer of the Central European tradition, ranging from Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, characterized by absurdism and grotesque exaggeration. But there is more to him: Eastern influences also appear in his works, which are contemplative and finely tuned in tone,” praised the Swedish Academy in its statement.
The 71-year-old Hungarian writer will receive 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately 388 million Hungarian forints) with the award. Traditionally, the prize is presented on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, who established the award.
Following Imre Kertész, László Krasznahorkai becomes the second Hungarian author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
(Debreceni Nap)
