Irish writer Paul Lynch has won the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction for his fifth novel, Prophet Song.
The dystopian novel follows a woman’s struggle to protect her family as Ireland collapses into totalitarianism in the near future. A civil war in Ireland then forces families to flee.
Paul Lynch, 46, spent four years writing the book and was inspired by the long years of civil war in Syria and the “indifference of the West”.
“I tried to look into modern chaos,” Lynch told the Booker website. “The unrest in Western democracies. The problem of Syria – the implosion of an entire nation, the extent of the refugee crisis and the indifference of the West. … I wanted to deepen the reader’s immersion so that by the end of the book they not only know this problem, but also feel it themselves.”
Decision influenced by the “timeless” theme of the book
Canadian writer Esi Edugyan, who chaired the jury, said the book was “a triumph of emotional, courageous and courageous storytelling” in which Lynch “achieves linguistic feats that are breathtaking to witness.”
Lynch’s victory comes days after far-right violence erupted in the Irish capital Dublin following a knife attack outside a primary school.
Edugyan said current events came up in their discussions about choosing a winner, but that wasn’t the reason the book won.
Lynch’s book “captures the social and political anxieties of our current moment” but also deals with “timeless” themes.
Edugyan said the selection of the winner was not unanimous but the meeting, which lasted six hours, was “collegial.”
Lynch received his trophy from last year’s winner, Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka, who won for “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida,” a novel about the trauma of his country’s civil war.
rm/sri (Portal, AP)