The Prestigious Booker Prize 2023 Has Been Awarded to Irish Writer Paul Lynch

Irish writer Paul Lynch has won this year's Booker Prize for his book "Prophet Song". The novelist received £50,000 for winning the prize.

This was reported on the prize's website. 

The dystopian novel "Prophet Song" tells the story of microbiologist Eilish Stack in an imaginary Dublin where the usual democratic world is replaced by a totalitarian regime. In the story, the protagonist tries to resist the system in order to save her family - four children and her husband, who was taken away by the secret police.  

According to Lynch, he was inspired to write the book by the war in Syria and the refugee crisis, which is becoming an increasingly acute problem for the whole world. 

"I was trying to see into the modern chaos. The unrest in Western democracies. The problem of Syria – the implosion of an entire nation, the scale of its refugee crisis and the West’s indifference... I wanted to deepen the reader’s immersion to such a degree that by the end of the book, they would not just know, but feel this problem for themselves," the author emphasised.

Esi Edugyan, chairman of the 2023 Man Booker Prize jury, believes that "Prophet Song" reflects the social and political anxiety of our time. 

"From that first knock at the door, 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. We felt unsettled from the start, submerged in – and haunted by – the sustained claustrophobia of Lynch’s powerfully constructed world," said Edugyan. 

"Prophet Song" is Lynch's fifth book, which he has been working on for the past four years.  

In 2018, Lynch's book Grace was named the best novel of the year by the Kerry Group, and Black Snow received the Prix Libr'à Nous honorary award for the best foreign novel.

The Booker Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world. It has been awarded in the UK since 1969. 

This year's nominees are: The Bee Sting by Paul Murray; Western Lane by Chetna Maroo; This Other Eden by Paul Harding; If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery; and Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein. 

Earlier, Ukrainian writer and literary critic Oksana Zabuzhko was included in the BBC's list of the 100 most influential women of the year.