Nobel prize in literature 2025 as it happened: László Krasznahorkai wins ‘for his compelling and visionary oeuvre’

From 9 Oct 2025László Krasznahorkai winsElla CreamerLászló Krasznahorkai has won the 2025 Nobel prize in literature.Key events9 Oct 2025Where does Krasznahorkai stand politically?9 Oct 2025Who is winner László Krasznahorkai?9 Oct 2025László Krasznahorkai wins9 Oct 2025Possible winner: Haruki Murakami9 Oct 2025Who is the bookies’ favourite, Can Xue?9 Oct 2025Possible winners: László Krasznahorkai9 Oct 2025Who do publishing insiders have their money on?9 Oct 2025How the Nobel prize in literature is chosen9 Oct 2025Bookies’ favourites: Can Xue and Krasznahorkai tied at the top9 Oct 2025Opening summaryShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureElla CreamerAnd that’s it for another year! Thank you for joining us for the live blog. You can read the full story by Emma Loffhagen here:The Nobel peace prize will be announced tomorrow at 10am BST (11am CEST).Ella Creamer“I’ve been haunted by Krasznahorkai’s The Melancholy of Resistance since I first read it in the early years of the century”, says the poet and writer Fiona Sampson. “It’s a work which has the undeniable signature of genius. At the time I was working on seeing writers from what we then called post-communist Europe into publication in English. Even then, in that explosion of access to wonderful writing too long inaudible in the Anglosphere, this fiction stood out.“The Melancholy of Resistance was the first novel of his I read. I was immediately sucked into its shadowy moodscape. Starting to read this famously unparagraphed novel is like entering a labyrinth: a claustrophobic zone where the mystery of an arriving leviathan (and all that symbolises), of the suffocating small town into which it arrives, not to mention the nocturne which is the setting, all combined almost unbearably in a portrait of powerlessness and society’s failure. A political critique? Almost certainly, but also such a profound and new made symbol it speaks to every kind of stalemate, psychic and societal.“Krasznahorkai reminds us life is difficult, agency almost always almost out of reach, and the colours of many times and places sombre. An essential read for these times, not least in a Europe once again feeling the squeeze between Russia and the US.”Where does Krasznahorkai stand politically?Philip OltermannAlthough he retains a house in his native Hungary, Krasznahorkai has spent recent years living in self-imposed exile in Berlin and Trieste, and has not hid his disdain for the policies of prime minister Viktor Orbán.