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The coveted Nobel Prize in Literature for this year has been bestowed upon from Hungary author László Krasznahorkai, as revealed by the committee.

The Academy commended the seventy-one-year-old's "compelling and visionary body of work that, in the midst of end-times fear, reaffirms the strength of the arts."

A Renowned Path of Apocalyptic Narratives

Krasznahorkai is renowned for his bleak, pensive works, which have won several prizes, such as the recent National Book Award for translated literature and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Several of his works, notably his titles Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been made into cinematic works.

Early Beginnings

Originating in a Hungarian locale in 1954, Krasznahorkai first gained recognition with his 1985 initial work Satantango, a grim and captivating depiction of a collapsing village society.

The work would later secure the Man Booker International Prize recognition in translation many years later, in 2013.

An Unconventional Writing Approach

Often described as postmodern, Krasznahorkai is renowned for his extended, meandering phrases (the twelve chapters of his novel each are a one paragraph), bleak and melancholic motifs, and the kind of unwavering power that has led literary experts to liken him to Gogol, Melville and Kafka.

The novel was widely transformed into a lengthy movie by filmmaker Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a lengthy creative partnership.

"Krasznahorkai is a remarkable writer of epic tales in the central European heritage that traces back to Franz Kafka to Bernhard, and is marked by absurdism and bizarre extremes," commented Anders Olsson, leader of the Nobel panel.

He characterized Krasznahorkai’s prose as having "evolved into … smooth language with lengthy, intricate sentences lacking full stops that has become his hallmark."

Critical Acclaim

Susan Sontag has described the author as "the contemporary Hungarian expert of apocalypse," while Sebald applauded the broad relevance of his outlook.

Only a few of Krasznahorkai’s works have been published in English. The literary critic Wood once noted that his books "are shared like precious items."

Worldwide Travels

Krasznahorkai’s professional journey has been molded by travel as much as by his writing. He first departed from the communist Hungary in 1987, spending a twelve months in West Berlin for a grant, and later drew inspiration from Eastern Asia – notably Asian nations – for books such as a specific work, and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens.

While writing War and War, he explored across European nations and stayed in Allen Ginsberg’s New York apartment, noting the legendary poet's support as vital to completing the book.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Questioned how he would describe his writing in an interview, Krasznahorkai responded: "Characters; then from these characters, vocabulary; then from these terms, some short sentences; then additional phrases that are lengthier, and in the main very long sentences, for the duration of decades. Beauty in language. Fun in hell."

On audiences discovering his writing for the first time, he continued: "If there are individuals who haven’t read my books, I would not suggest a particular book to read to them; rather, I’d advise them to step out, rest at a location, possibly by the banks of a creek, with no tasks, no thoughts, just remaining in silence like boulders. They will eventually encounter someone who has encountered my works."

Nobel Prize Context

Ahead of the reveal, betting agencies had listed the top contenders for this year’s honor as an avant-garde author, an avant garde Chinese author, and Krasznahorkai himself.

The Nobel Award in Literary Arts has been awarded on over a hundred prior instances since the early 20th century. Latest winners include Ernaux, Bob Dylan, Abdulrazak Gurnah, the poet, Peter Handke and Olga Tokarczuk. The previous year's winner was the South Korean writer, the South Korean novelist most famous for her acclaimed novel.

Krasznahorkai will officially be presented with the prize medal and certificate in a ceremony in the month of December in Stockholm, Sweden.

Updates to come