László Krasznahorkai receives prestigious Spanish Formentor Literary Award
Renowned Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai has been announced as the recipient of the prestigious Spanish Formentor international literary award 2024. The five-member jury praised the Hungarian writer’s “maintenance of a narrative force that envelops, reveals, conceals and transforms the reality of the world,” his ability to build fascinating labyrinths of literary imagination, and his detailed, slow-paced style, which “reflects the creative energy of a literature completely alien to the industrial influence of entertainment.”
The Formentor Literature Prize was established in 1961, to recognize the quality and integrity of works that consolidate the prestige and cultural impact of literature. Among the winners in the first years were, for instance, Samuel Beckett of Ireland and Jorge Luis Borges of Argentina. After a break of several decades, the prize was revived in 2011, and has been awarded to authors such as Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux of France, Ludmilla Ulickaya of Russia, and last year, to Pascal Quignard of France.
Several of László Krasznahorkai's notable works, including Tango Satánico, War and War, and Melancolía de la resistencia, have been published in Spain by Acantilado and translated by Adam Kovacsis. Renowned filmmaker Béla Tarr has adapted some of László Krasznahorkai's works into films, notably his version of Tango Satánico, a seven-hour cult classic.