Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai, whose philosophical, bleakly funny novels often unfold in single sentences, won the Nobel Prize in literature Thursday for his “compelling and visionary oeuvre.” Krasznahorkai follows in the footsteps of literary greats including Ernest Hemingway, Albert Camus and Toni Morrison in winning the prestigious award.
The literature prize has been awarded by the Nobel committee of the Swedish Academy 117 times to a total of 121 winners. Last year's prize was won by South Korean author Han Kang for her body of work that the committee said “confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” The literature prize is the fourth to be announced this week, following the 2025 Nobels in medicine, physics and chemistry.
The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday. US President Donald Trump is considered a long shot despite recently telling United Nations delegates “everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize.” The final Nobel, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, is to be announced on Monday.
Nobel Prize award ceremonies are held on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death in 1896. Nobel was a wealthy Swedish industrialist and the inventor of dynamite who founded the prizes.
Each prize carries an award of 11 million Swedish kronor (nearly USD 1.2 million), and the winners also receive an 18-carat gold medal and a diploma.