(ANSA-AFP) - STOKCHOLM, OCT 9 - The Nobel Prize in Literature was on Thursday awarded to Laszlo Krasznahorkai, considered by many as Hungary's most important living author, whose works explore themes of postmodern dystopia and melancholy. The Swedish Academy honoured him "for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art." "I'm very happy, I'm calm and very nervous altogether," the author told Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Radio from Frankfurt. "It is my first day as a Nobel prize winner," he said. The Academy highlighted Krasznahorkai's first novel published in 1985, "Satantango", which brought him to prominence in Hungary and remains his best-known work. The Academy called it "a literary sensation". Krasznahorkai is "a great epic writer in the Central European tradition that extends through Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterised by absurdism and grotesque excess," the Academy said. "But there are more strings to his bow, and he also looks to the East in adopting a more contemplative, finely calibrated tone." "The result is a string of works inspired by the deep-seated impressions left by his journeys to China and Japan," it said. Krasznahorkai was among those mentioned as a possible winner in the run-up to the announcement. The Academy noted the author's flowing syntax with long, winding sentences devoid of full stops that has become his signature. "While it is Krasznahorkai's weighty, rolling syntax that has perhaps become his signature as an author, his style also allows for a lightness of touch and a great lyrical beauty," Academy member Steve Sem-Sandberg said. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban hailed the prize to Krasznahorkai. (ANSA-AFP).