Hungarian Author Receives Austrian Literary Prize

Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai was awarded the Austrian State Prize for European Literature this year.

Krasznahorkai's "novels and short stories, written in a unique style, with an impressive visual expressiveness, uninhibited in their search for real and surreal scenes, with cool irony and a keen mind, are well thought out, perfectly written and clearly composed", the jury said, justifying the award of a cash prize of EUR 25,000.

The Austrian State Prize for European Literature, founded in 1964 and administered by the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Public Service and Sport, recognizes the literary achievements of a European author who has received international recognition. The works must be available in German.

Several works by the now 67-year-old László Krasznahorkai have been published in German, including Satantango; The Melancholy of Resistance; The Prisoner of Urga, From the North by Hill, From the South by Lake, From the West by Roads, From the East by River; and Baron Wenckheim Returns Home.

Hungarian writers this Austrian distinction has been awarded to include Péter Esterházy (1999), Péter Nádas (1991) and Sándor Weöres (1974).