In a dazzling literary event held at Old Billingsgate, London, “Prophet Song” by Paul Lynch was declared the winner of the prestigious Booker Prize 2023. The accolade came with a £50,000 prize and was presented to Lynch by Shehan Karunatilaka, the winner of the previous year. The gripping ceremony was hosted by Samira Ahmed and broadcast live on BBC Radio 4’s “Front Row.” Lynch’s fifth novel has been hailed as an exhilarating, propulsive, and confrontational portrait of a country and a family teetering on the brink of catastrophe. Set in a dystopian Ireland, the story revolves around Eilish Stack, the novel’s protagonist, who grapples with the nightmare of a collapsing society.

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Esi Edugyan, the chair of the 2023 judges, praised the novel, stating, “Prophet Song forces us out of our complacency as we follow the terrifying plight of a woman seeking to protect her family in an Ireland descending into totalitarianism.” The judges were captivated by Lynch’s powerful storytelling, his fearless depiction of state violence and displacement, and his mastery of language. Edugyan further noted, “He has the heart of a poet, using repetition and recurring motifs to create a visceral reading experience. This is a triumph of emotional storytelling, bracing and brave.”

Edugyan led the distinguished judging panel for the 2023 Booker Prize, which included actor, writer, and director Adjoa Andoh; poet, lecturer, editor, and critic Mary Jean Chan; Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and Shakespeare specialist James Shapiro; and actor and writer Robert Webb.

The selection process

The Booker Prize is renowned for its rigorous selection process. The winning book was chosen from a pool of 163 titles published between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023, and submitted to the prize by publishers. This prestigious award is open to unified and sustained works of fiction written in English and published in the UK or Ireland, regardless of the author’s nationality.

Gaby Wood, Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, highlighted the panel’s diverse tastes and reading styles. She explained that the judges asked themselves two key questions: “What is this book doing?” to analyse its technique and artistic contributions, and “What is this book doing to me?” to gauge its emotional impact. “Prophet Song” emerged as a worthy winner, praised for its masterful sentences and profound emotional resonance.

2023 Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch’s insights

Lynch provided insights into the inspiration behind the work in an interview with the Booker Prizes website. He explained that he sought to delve into the chaos of modern times, drawing inspiration from the unrest in Western democracies and the crisis in Syria. Lynch’s goal was to create a sense of radical empathy in readers by immersing them in a dystopian world grounded in realism. He emphasised the influence of great Irish writers like Beckett and Joyce on his work, which has left an enduring mark on literature and culture.

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Lynch also expressed gratitude for the support of the Irish state, which played a crucial role during the four-year journey of writing “Prophet Song.” He praised his publisher and editor, Juliet Mabey, for championing authors who push the boundaries of literature, even if it means taking risks that mainstream imprints might avoid.

In a thought-provoking article in the Guardian, Lynch touched on the theme of his novel, stating, “I wanted to put narrative shape on life and death, power and powerlessness, on how life is lived in blindness, and that we act with certainty but reap the unforeseen. I wanted to explore the nature of force, problems of choice and free will, and to pose questions about human dignity.”

Dismantling the dystopian genre

Lynch’s approach to “Prophet Song” defies traditional dystopian conventions. In a video interview, he remarked, “What I wanted to do with this book was dismantle the form of the dystopian novel.” He challenged the notion that dystopian fiction can be speculative, asserting that the events in his novel are grounded in reality and are occurring somewhere in the world today. His work blurs the line between speculative and realism, offering readers a powerful and unsettling narrative.

As a result, his work invites readers to confront the complexities of our world and the human condition, making “Prophet Song” a thought-provoking and unforgettable literary masterpiece.