The Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, has won the Man Booker International prize (worth £60,000). Chair of judges Marina Warner described him as “a visionary writer of extraordinary intensity and vocal range who captures the texture of present-day existence in scenes that are terrifying, strange, appallingly comic, and often shatteringly beautiful”. She also added that Krasznahorkai, being a non-English writer, has “been superbly served by his translators”, George Szirtes and Ottilie Mulzet, who will share the £15,000 translators’ prize.
Krasznahorkai’s notable works include Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance.
The ten shortlisted writers:
César Aira (Argentina)
Hoda Barakat (Lebanon)
Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe)
Mia Couto (Mozambique)
Amitav Ghosh (India)
Fanny Howe (USA)
Ibrahim al-Koni (Libya)
László Krasznahorkai (Hungary)
Alain Mabanckou (Republic of Congo)
Marlene van Niekerk (South Africa)