Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Contents
Biography
Early life and education
Career as writer
Personal life Born 5 January 1954
Works
Gyula, Hungary
Books Occupation Novelist, screenwriter
Screenplays for films Language Hungarian, German
Collections and critical studies
Alma mater Eötvös Loránd
Honors and awards University (ELTE)
References (University of
Notes Budapest)[1]
Further reading József Attila
External links University (JATE)
(University of
Szeged)[1]
Since completing his university studies Krasznahorkai has supported himself as an krasznahorkai.hu
independent author. When in 1985 his first major publication Satantango achieved
success, he was immediately thrust into the forefront of Hungarian literary life. The book, a dystopian novel set in his native
Hungary, is regarded as his most famous. It received aBest Translated Book Award in English in 2013.[5]
He travelled outside of Communist Hungary for the first time in 1987, spending a year in West Berlin as a recipient of a DAAD
fellowship. Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, he has lived in a variety of locations.[5] In 1990, for the first time, he was able to
spend a significant amount of time in East Asia. He drew upon his experiences in Mongolia and China in writing The Prisoner of
Urga and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens. He has returned many times to China.[6]
In 1993, his novel The Melancholy of Resistance received the German Bestenliste-Prize for the best literary work of the year.[5][7] In
1996, he was a guest of the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin.[6] While completing the novel War and War, he travelled widely across
Europe. The American poet Allen Ginsberg was of great assistance in completing the work; Krasznahorkai resided for some time in
[8]
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. His contact with the aesthetics and literary theory of the Far East resulted in
significant changes in his writing style and deployed themes.[9] He returns often to both Germany and Hungary, but he has also spent
varying lengths of time in several other countries, including the United States, Spain, Greece, and Japan,[10] providing inspiration for
his novel Seiobo There Below, which won the Best Translated Book Award in 2014.[11]
Beginning in 1985, the renowned director and the author's good friend Béla Tarr made films almost exclusively based on
Krasznahorkai's works, including Sátántangó and Werckmeister Harmonies.[6] Krasznahorkai said the 2011 film The Turin Horse
would be their last collaboration.[12]
Krasznahorkai has received international acclaim from critics. Susan Sontag described him as "the contemporary Hungarian master
of apocalypse who inspires comparison with Gogol and Melville".[5] W. G. Sebald remarked, "The universality of Krasznahorkai's
vision rivals that of Gogol's Dead Souls and far surpasses all the lesser concerns of contemporary writing."[13] In 2015, he received
the Man Booker International Prize, the first Hungarian author to be so awarded.[7]
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, Krasznahorkai currently resides "as a recluse in the hills of Szentlászló" in Hungary.[2][14] After divorcing his first wife,
Anikó Pelyhe, whom he married in 1990, he married his second wife, Dóra Kopcsányi, a sinologist and graphic designer, in 1997.[2]
He has three children: Kata, Ágnes and Emma.[2]
Works
Books
1985: Satantango (Sátántangó), novel.
Translated by George Szirtes for New Directions Publishing and included inWar & War.
1999: War and War (Háború és háború), novel.
Translated by George Szirtes for New Directions Publishing in a limited-edition format paired withJohn Batki's
translation of Herman from Relations of Grace.
2010: Animalinside (Állatvanbent), together with Max Neumann, collage of prose and pictures.
Translated by John Batki, with additional translations byGeorge Szirtes and Ottilie Mulzet, for New Directions
Publishing.
2013: "The Bill", short story.
Translated by George Szirtes for Sylph Editions' The Cahiers Series and included inThe World Goes On.
2016: The Homecoming of Baron Wenckheim (Báró Wenckheim hazatér), novel.
References
Notes
1. Krasznahorkai biography (official website) (http://www.krasznahorkai.hu/biography.html) (Retrieved 9 August 2012).
2. "Krasznahorkai, Laszlo 1954–"(http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-2699000097/krasznahorkai-laszlo-1954.ht
ml). Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. 158. 2007. Retrieved 16 September 2012. (Subscription required
(help)).
3. Wood, James (4 July 2011). "Madness and Civilization: The very strange fictions of László Krasznahorkai".The New
Yorker. Vol. 87 no. 19. pp. 71–75.
4. Görömbei, András. "László Krasznahorkai, Hungarian writer"(https://web.archive.org/web/20150520163905/https://
www.ned.univie.ac.at/node/20660). Universität Wien. Archived from the original (https://www.ned.univie.ac.at/node/2
0660) on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
5. Bausells, Marta (20 May 2015)."Everything you need to know about László Krasznahorkai, winner of the Man
Booker International prize"(https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/may/20/man-booker-international-p
rize-laszlo-krasznahorkai-who-he-is-and-why-you-should-read-him). The Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
6. "László Krasznahorkai"(http://hungarianreview.com/author/laszlo_krasznahorkai). Hungarian Review. Retrieved
21 May 2015.
7. "Man Booker International prize 2015 won by 'visionary' László Krasznahorkai"
(https://www.theguardian.com/books/
2015/may/19/man-international-booker-2015-laszlo-krasznahorkai) . The Guardian. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May
2015.
8. "László Krasznahorkai: The Disciplined Madness"(https://www.guernicamag.com/daily/laszlo-krasznahorkai-the-disc
iplined-madness/). Guernica. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
9. Vonnak, Diana (25 April 2014)."East Meets East: Krasznahorkai's Intellectual Af
fair With Japan" (http://www.hlo.hu/n
ews/east_meets_east_krasznahorkai_s_intellectual_af fair_with_japan). Hungarian Literature Online.Archived (http
s://www.webcitation.org/6Yfakjshn?url=http://www.hlo.hu/news/east_meets_east_krasznahorkai_s_intellectual_af fair
_with_japan) from the original on 20 May 2015.
10. Csaba Tóth (31 July 2014)."Laszlo Krasznahorkai: Hungary has been showing its uglier face the past 25 years"
(htt
p://budapestbeacon.com/public-policy/laszlo-krasznahorkai-hungary-has-been-showing-its-uglier-face-the-past-25-y
ears/). The Budapest Beacon. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
11. Kellogg, Carolyn (29 April 2014)."Can you say Laszlo Krasznahorkai?"(http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-
et-jc-can-you-say-laszlo-krasznahorkai-20140429-story.html). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
12. Hopkins, James (2013)."Interview with László Krasznahorkai"(http://www.lit-across-frontiers.org/transcript/interview-
with-laszlo-kraznahorkai/). Transcript. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
13. "LÁSZLÓ KRASZNAHORKAI: ANIMALINSIDE"(https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092943/https://www .aup.edu/
news-events/events/2010-09-13/l%C3%A1szl%C3%B3-krasznahorkai-animalinside) . The American University of
Paris. 2010. Archived fromthe original (https://www.aup.edu/news-events/events/2010-09-13/l%C3%A1szl%C3%B3
-krasznahorkai-animalinside)on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
14. László Krasznahorkai – Author at New Directions Publishing(http://ndbooks.com/author/laszlo-krasznahorkai)
(Retrieved 9 August 2012).
15. "László Krasznahorkai"(http://www.musicandliterature.org/issues/2). Music & Literature Magazine. No. 2. 2013.
Retrieved 11 April 2015. (Subscription required (help)).
16. "Hungarian writer wins Man Booker International Prize"(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/Hungarian
-writer-wins-Man-Booker-International-Prize/articleshow/47357743.cms) . The Times of India. 20 May 2015. Archived
(https://www.webcitation.org/6YfVUyjA1?url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/Hungarian-writer-wins
-Man-Booker-International-Prize/articleshow/47357743.cms)from the original on 20 May 2015.
17. "The New York Public Library's Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers Announces 2015-
2016 Fellows" (https://www.nypl.org/press/press-release/april-30-2015/new-york-public-librarys-dorothy-and-lewis-b-
cullman-center). The New York Public Library. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
18. Post, Chad W. (28 April 2014). "BTBA 2014: Poetry and Fiction Winners"(http://www.rochester.edu/College/translati
on/threepercent/index.php?id=10932). Three Percent. Archived (https://www.webcitation.org/6YfbqNoyK?url=http://w
ww.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=10932)from the original on 20 May 2015.
19. Post, Chad W. (6 May 2013). "2013 BTBA Winners" (http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/inde
x.php?id=6982). Three Percent. Archived (https://www.webcitation.org/6Yfc1lvLZ?url=http://www.rochester.edu/Colle
ge/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=6982)from the original on 20 May 2015.
20. "Literaturpreis 2010 an Alissa Walser und László Krasznahorkai [Literature Prize 2010 for Alissa W
alser and László
Krasznahorkai]" (http://www.spycher-literaturpreis.info/agenda/agenda-artikel/652010-spycher-literaturpreis-2010-an-
alissa-walser-und-laszlo-krasznahorkai.html)(in German). 6 May 2010.Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20150
520162659/http://www.spycher-literaturpreis.info/agenda/agenda-artikel/652010-spycher-literaturpreis-2010-an-aliss
a-walser-und-laszlo-krasznahorkai.html)from the original on 20 May 2015.
Further reading
Auerbach, David "The Mythology of László Krasznahorkai," The Quarterly Conversation, 7 June 2010
Wood, James "Madness and Civilization: The very strange fictions of László Krasznahorkai ," The New Yorker, 4 July
2011, pp. 71–75.
Ervin, Andrew (18 January 2001)."Hungary for More: Let The Melancholy of Resistance be your introduction to
Hungarian literature". Philadelphia City Paper. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015.
External links
lászló krasznahorkai (official website)