László Krasznahorkai (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈlaːsloː krɒsnɒhorkɒ.i]; born in Gyula, Hungary on 5 January 1954) is a Hungarian writer. He completed his university studies in Hungary, and has supported himself as an independent author since then. When in 1985 his first major publication Sátántangó achieved amazing success, Krasznahorkai was immediately thrust into the forefront of Hungarian literary life.
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. He returns often to both Germany and Hungary, but he has also spent and spends varying lengths of time in France, Spain, the USA, England, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, China and Japan.
In 1993, his novel The Melancholy of Resistance received the German “Bestenliste-Prize” for the best literary work of the year. From the United States to Japan, critics have acknowledged the importance of his writing. According to Susan Sontag, he is “the contemporary Hungarian master of apocalypse who inspires comparison with Gogol and Melville”. W. G. Sebald had this to say: “The universality of Krasznahorkai's vision rivals that of Gogol's Dead Souls and far surpasses all the lesser concerns of contemporary writing.” 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 was of great assistance in completing the work; Krasznahorkai resided for some time in Ginsberg’s New York apartment, and the poet’s friendly advice was invaluable in bringing the book to life.
In 1990, for the first time, he was able to spend a longer period in East Asia. Krasznahorkai renders an account of his experiences in Mongolia and China in his works The Prisoner of Urga and Ruin and Sorrow beneath the Heavens. From this point, he has returned many times to China. In 1996, 2000 and 2005 he spent six months in Kyoto, Japan.
Since 1985, the renowned director and the author’s good friend Béla Tarr has made films almost exclusively based on Krasznahorkai’s works, including the highly successful Sátántangó and Werckmeister Harmonies. His collaboration with Tarr continues to this day: Krasznahorkai writes the screenplays, and assists the director in all important decisions.
His works have been translated into English (New Directions Publishers), into German (Rowohlt, Ammann, S. Fischer), French (Gallimard, Cambourakis), Spanish (Acantilado), Polish (W.A.B.), Czech (Host, Mlada Fronta), Bulgarian (Stigmati), Hebrew (Babel) and Japanese (Shoraisha, Keio), among other languages.
Krasznahorkai has been honoured with numerous literary prizes, among them the highest award of the Hungarian state, the Kossuth Prize. In 2008, he was the S. Fischer guest professor at the Free University of Berlin. He has three children, and since 2007 has lived in Berlin with his second wife, Dorka Krasznahorkai, who is a Sinologist and graphic designer.