2023-11-27 00:38:02
LONDON (AP) — Irish writer Paul Lynch won the Booker Prize for fiction on Sunday with a novel that judges called “heartbreaking” regarding a woman’s fight to protect her family as Ireland descends into totalitarianism and war.
“Prophet Song,” which takes place in a fictional dystopian version of Dublin, received the 50,000-pound ($63,000) literary prize at a ceremony in London. Canadian writer Esi Edugyan, who chaired the judging panel, said the book is “a triumph of emotional, empowering and courageous storytelling” in which Lynch “accomplishes feats of language that are impressive to witness.”
Lynch, 46, was the insider favorite to win the prestigious award, which typically boosts sales. His book beat five other finalists from Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, chosen from 163 novels submitted by the publishers.
“This was not an easy book to write,” Lynch said following receiving the Booker trophy. “The rational part of me believed I was dooming my career by writing this novel, even though I had to write the book anyway. We have no choice in such matters.”
Lynch called “Prophet Song,” his fifth novel, an attempt at “radical empathy” that attempts to immerse readers in the experience of living in a collapsing society.
“I was trying to see modern chaos,” he told the Booker website. “Unrest in Western Democracies. The problem of Syria: the implosion of an entire nation, the scale of its refugee crises and the indifference of the West… By the end of the book, I wanted readers to be so immersed that they would not only know, but feel, this problem themselves. themselves.”
The award’s five judges met on Saturday to choose a winner, less than 48 hours following far-right violence broke out in Dublin with a knife attack on a group of children.
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