László Krasznahorkai (; born 5 January 1954) is a Hungarian novelist and screenwriter known for difficult and demanding novels, often labeled

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

, with

dystopian A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...

and melancholic themes. Several of his works, including his novels '' Satantango'' (1985) and '' The Melancholy of Resistance'' (1989), have been adapted into feature films by

Béla Tarr Béla Tarr (born 21 July 1955) is a Hungarian filmmaker. Debuting with the film '' Family Nest'' (1979), Tarr began his directorial career with a brief period of what he refers to as "social cinema", aimed at telling everyday stories about ordi ...

Early life and education

Krasznahorkai was born in

Gyula, Hungary Gyula (; ; or ) is a town in Békés County, Hungary. The town is best known for its medieval castle and a thermal bath. Ferenc Erkel, the composer of the Hungarian national anthem, and Albrecht Dürer the Elder, the father of Albrecht ...

, on 5 January 1954 to a middle-class family. His father, György Krasznahorkai, was a lawyer and his mother, Júlia Pálinkás, a social security administrator. His father had

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

roots that he kept secret and did not reveal them until Krasznahorkai was eleven years old. In 1972, Krasznahorkai graduated from the Erkel Ferenc high school where he specialized in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. From 1973 to 1976 he studied law at the József Attila University (now

University of Szeged The University of Szeged () is a Public university, public research university in Szeged, Hungary. Established as the Jesuit Academy of Kolozsvár in present-day Cluj-Napoca in 1581, the institution was re-established as a university in 1872 by ...

) and from 1976 to 1978 at

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...

(ELTE) in Budapest. From 1978 to 1983, he studied

Hungarian language Hungarian, or Magyar (, ), is an Ugric language of the Uralic language family spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighboring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Out ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

at ELTE Faculty of Humanities, receiving his degree. His

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

was on the work and experiences of writer and journalist

Sándor Márai (; Archaic English name: Alexander Márai; 11 April 1900 – 21 February 1989) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian writer, poet, and journalist. Biography Márai was born on 11 April 1900 in the city of Košice, Kassa, Kingdom of Hungary, Hun ...

(1900–1989) after he fled the Communist regime in 1948. During his years as a literature student, Krasznahorkai worked at the publishing company Gondolat Könyvkiadó.

Career as writer

Since completing his university studies, Krasznahorkai has supported himself as an independent author. In 1985, his debut novel '' Satantango'' achieved success, and he was immediately thrust into the forefront of Hungarian literary life. It received a Best Translated Book Award in English in 2013. He travelled outside of Communist Hungary for the first time in 1987, spending a year in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

as a recipient of a DAAD fellowship. Since the collapse of the

Soviet Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

, he has lived in a variety of locations. In 1990, for the first time, he was able to spend a significant amount of time in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

. He drew upon his experiences in

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in writing '' The Prisoner of Urga'' and '' Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens''. He has returned many times to China. In 1993, his novel '' The Melancholy of Resistance'' received the German Bestenliste-Prize for the best literary work of the year. In 1996, he was a guest of the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin. While completing the novel '' War and War'', he travelled widely across Europe. The American poet

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

was of great assistance in completing the work; Krasznahorkai resided for some time in Ginsberg's New York apartment, and he described the poet's friendly advice as valuable in bringing the book to life. In 1996, 2000, and 2005 he spent six months in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. His contact with the aesthetics and literary theory of the Far East resulted in significant changes in his writing style and deployed themes. He returns often to both Germany and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, but he has also spent varying lengths of time in several other countries, including the United States, Spain, Greece, and Japan, providing inspiration for his novel '' Seiobo There Below'', which won the Best Translated Book Award in 2014. Beginning in 1985, the director and the author's friend

made films almost exclusively based on Krasznahorkai's works, including '' Sátántangó'' and '' Werckmeister Harmonies''. Krasznahorkai said the 2011 film '' The Turin Horse'' would be their last collaboration. Krasznahorkai has also collaborated closely with the artist Max Neumann, including on the illustrated novella '' Chasing Homer'' (2021), which is accompanied by an original percussive score from the jazz musician Szilveszter Miklós. Krasznahorkai has received international acclaim from critics.

Susan Sontag Susan Lee Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on "Camp", Notes on 'Ca ...

described him as "the contemporary Hungarian master of apocalypse who inspires comparison with

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and " Nevsky Prosp ...

and Melville". W. G. Sebald remarked, "The universality of Krasznahorkai's vision rivals that of

's '' Dead Souls'' and far surpasses all the lesser concerns of contemporary writing." In 2015, he received the Man Booker International Prize, the first Hungarian author to be so awarded.

Personal life

After residing in Berlin, Germany, for several years, where he was for six months S. Fischer Guest Professor at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

, Krasznahorkai currently resides "as a recluse in the hills of

Szentlászló Szentlászló is a village in Baranya (county), Baranya county, Hungary. Location The village is located on the northwestern side of Baranya (county), Baranya (in Zselic). The next city Szigetvár lies 13 km from the village. Baranya's coun ...

" in Hungary.László Krasznahorkai – Author at New Directions Publishing
(Retrieved 9 August 2012). After divorcing his first wife, Anikó Pelyhe, whom he had married in 1990, he married Dóra Kopcsányi, a sinologist and graphic designer, in 1997. He has three children: Kata, Ágnes and Panni.

Honors and awards

Krasznahorkai has been honored with numerous literary prizes, among them the highest award of the Hungarian state, the Kossuth Prize, and the Man Booker International Prize for his English-translated oeuvre. *2024: Prix Formentor *2021: Austrian State Prize for European Literature *2020
Literature.gr Phrase of the Year Prize 2018
* 2019: National Book Award for Translated Literature (USA) for ''Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming'' *2017: Aegon Art Award for ''Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming'' (Hungary) * 2015: Man Booker International Prize * 2015: The

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

's Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers Fellow * 2014: Vilenica Prize (Vilenica International Literary Festival, Slovenia) * 2014: Best Translated Book Award, winner for ''Seiobo There Below'', translated from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet. First author to win two BTBA awards. * 2014: America Award for a lifetime contribution to international writing * 2013: Best Translated Book Award, winner for ''Satantango'', translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes * 2012: Prima Primissima Prize (Budapest, Hungary) * 2010: Brücke-Berlin Prize (Berlin, Germany) for ''Seiobo There Below'' * 2010: Spycher-Prize (Leuk, Switzerland) for his complete work but in particular for ''From the North a Mountain, ...'' * 2009: Prize of the Society of Writers (Budapest, Hungary) * 2008: Hungarian Heritage-Award, (Budapest, Hungary) * 2007: Nominated for Jean-Monnet Prize for European Literature (France) * 2004: Kossuth Prize (Hungary) * 2003: Soros Foundation Prize * 2002: Laureate of the Hungarian Republic (Magyar Köztársaság Babérkoszorúja) * 1998: Márai Sándor Prize (Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture) * 1993: Krúdy Gyula Prize (Hungary) * 1993: Bestenliste-Prize (Baden-Baden, Germany) for ''The Melancholy of Resistance'' * 1992: Déry Tibor Award (Hungary) * 1987–1988: DAAD Fellowship (West Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany) * 1987: József Attila Prize (Hungary) * 1987: Mikes Kelemen Kör Prize (The Netherlands)

Works

Novels

* 1985: '' Satantango'' (''Sátántangó''), translated by George Szirtes ( New Directions, 2012). * 1989: '' The Melancholy of Resistance'' (''Az ellenállás melankóliája''), translated by George Szirtes (New Directions, 2000). * 1992: ''The Prisoner of Urga'' (''Az urgai fogoly''). * 1999: '' War & War'' (''Háború és háború''), translated by George Szirtes (New Directions, 2006). * 2004: '' Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens'' (''Rombolás és bánat az Ég alatt''), translated by Ottilie Mulzet (Seagull Books, 2016). * 2008: '' Seiobo There Below'' (''Seiobo járt odalent''), translated by Ottilie Mulzet (New Directions, 2013). * 2016: '' Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming'' (''Báró Wenckheim hazatér''), translated by Ottilie Mulzet (New Directions, 2019). * 2021: '' Herscht 07769'', translated by Ottilie Mulzet (New Directions, 2024). * 2024: ''Zsömle odavan''

Novellas

* 2003: ''A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East'' (''Északról hegy, Délről tó, Nyugatról utak, Keletről folyó''), translated by Ottilie Mulzet (New Directions, 2022). * 2009: ''The Last Wolf'' (''Az utolsó farkas''), translated by George Szirtes (New Directions, 2016; paired with John Batki's translation of "Herman" and "The Death of a Craft" from ''Relations of Grace''). * 2010: ''Animalinside'' (''Állatvanbent''), together with Max Neumann, collage of prose and pictures, translated by Ottilie Mulzet (New Directions, 2011; Sylph Editions, 2012). * 2018: ''Spadework for a Palace'' (''Aprómunka egy palotaért''), translated by John Batki (New Directions, 2022). * 2019: '' Chasing Homer'' (''Mindig Homérosznak''), with illustrations by Max Neumann, translated by John Batki (New Directions, 2021).

Short story collections

* 1986: ''Relations of Grace'' (''Kegyelmi viszonyok''), to be translated by John Batki for New Directions. ** Includes: "The Last Boat", "The Bogdanovich Story", "Trapped Rye", "Heat", "Herman: The Game Warden", "The Death of a Craft", "In the Barber's Grasp" and "The Station Seeker". * 2013: '' The World Goes On'' (''Megy a világ''). Translations by John Batki, George Szirtes and Ottilie Mulzet (New Directions, 2017).

Individual short stories

* 1984: "The Bogdanovich Story" ("El Bogdanovichtól"). Trans. Eszter Molnár, in ''Thy Kingdom Come: 19 Short Stories by 11 Hungarian Authors'' (pp. 64–79). * 1986: "The Last Boat" ("Az utolsó hajó"). Trans. Eszter Molnár, in ''Thy Kingdom Come: 19 Short Stories by 11 Hungarian Authors'' (pp. 53–63); later by George Szirtes in ''Music & Literature No. 2'' (2013) * 1998: "Isaiah Has Come" ("Megjött Ézsaiás"). Translated by George Szirtes, included in ''War & War''. * 1999: "Dumb to the Deaf" ("Néma a süketnek"). Trans. Eszter Molnár, in ''The Hungarian Quarterly'', Summer 2000 (pp. 49–55). * 2010: "The Bill: For Palma Vecchio, at Venice" ("Számla: Palma Vecchiónak, Velencébe"), translated by George Szirtes (Sylph Editions, 2013) and included in ''The World Goes On''.

Essays, interviews and other works

* 1993: ''The Universal Theseus'' (''A Théseus-általános''), three fictional lectures. Translated by John Batki, included in ''The World Goes On''. * 2001: ''Evening at Six: Some Free Exhibition-Opening Speeches'' (''Este hat; néhány szabad megnyitás''), essays. * 2003: ''Krasznahorkai: Conversations'' (''Krasznahorkai Beszélgetések''), interviews. * 2012: ''He Neither Answers Nor Questions: Twenty-five Conversations on the Same Subject'' (''Nem kérdez, nem válaszol. Huszonöt beszélgetés ugyanarról.''), interviews. * 2013: ''Music & Literature'' No. 2, book length special issue of the magazine with texts by Krasznahorkai and essays on his work by Béla Tarr and Max Neumann. * 2017: ''The Manhattan Project'', a literary diary with a photographic essay, translated by John Batki (Sylph Editions, 2017).

Screenplays for films

* 1988: ''

Damnation Damnation (from Latin '' damnatio'') is the concept of divine punishment after death for sins that were committed, or in some cases, good actions not done, on Earth. In Ancient Egyptian religious tradition, it was believed that citizens woul ...

'' (''Kárhozat''), directed by

. * 1989: ''The Last Boat'' (''Az utolsó hajó''), directed by

. * 1994: '' Sátántangó'', directed by

. * 1997–2001: '' Werckmeister Harmonies'' (''Werckmeister harmóniák''), directed by

. * 2007: '' The Man from London'' (''A Londoni férfi''), directed by

. * 2011: '' The Turin Horse'' (''A torinói ló''), directed by

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krasznahorkai, Laszlo 1954 births Living people 20th-century Hungarian male writers 20th-century Hungarian novelists 20th-century Hungarian screenwriters 21st-century Hungarian male writers 21st-century Hungarian novelists 21st-century Hungarian screenwriters Jewish Hungarian writers Hungarian male novelists Hungarian male screenwriters Hungarian short story writers People from Gyula Postmodern writers