The Swedish Academy awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature to László Krasznahorkai, the latest among more than 80 Penguin Random House authors to receive this distinguished literary honor. We are proud to publish Krasznahorkai in Brazil through Companhia das Letras and in Portugal through Grupo Editorial.
Just next week, Grupo Editorial’s Cavalo De Ferro imprint will publish Herscht 07769, an epic novel written entirely in a cascading single sentence, and Guerra e Guerra (War & War) in 2026. Companhia das Letras has published Sátántangó (Satantango), a monumental and relentless work that has become one of the cornerstones of contemporary European fiction, and will release Báró Wenckheim hazatér (Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming) in early 2026. They will also be publishing Herscht 07769.
The Academy recognized Krasznahorkai “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.” It’s a fitting tribute to a writer whose singular voice continues to defy convention and expand the possibilities of the novel. Having been described by Susan Sontag as “the contemporary Hungarian master of the apocalypse,” Krasznahorkai is renowned for his intricate prose and dystopian novels. His work is daring and transformative, earning him a reputation as one of the most visionary novelists of our time.
Clara Capitão, Publishing Director at Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Portugal, said, “This prize, along many others before, testifies to the quality and ambition of László Krasznahorkai’s oeuvre and its universal and timely appeal. His novels are demanding but at the same time extremely gratifying reads.”
Luiz Schwarcz, editor and founder of Companhia das Letras, said, “A long-awaited and well-deserved award for an author who, like the greatest writers, pushes literature into new frontiers.” The Academy echoed this sentiment, placing him in the Central European tradition of Franz Kafka and Thomas Bernhard, while also acknowledging his contemplative tone.
Born in Gyula, Hungary in 1954, Krasznahorkai has received many of literature’s most prestigious international honors, including the 2015 Man Booker International Prize and the 2019 National Book Award for Translated Literature.
