LONDON (AP) 鈥� Irish writer Paul Lynch won the for fiction on Sunday with what judges called a 鈥渟oul-shattering鈥� novel about a woman鈥檚 struggle to protect her family as Ireland collapses into totalitarianism and war.
鈥淧rophet Song,鈥� set in a dystopian fictional version of Dublin, was awarded 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 鈥渁 triumph of emotional storytelling, bracing and brave鈥� in which Lynch 鈥減ulls off feats of language that are stunning to witness.鈥�
Lynch, 46, had been the bookies鈥� favorite to win the prestigious prize, which usually brings a big boost in sales. His book beat five other finalists from Ireland, the U.K., the U.S. and sa国际传媒, chosen from 163 novels submitted by publishers.
鈥淭his was not an easy book to write,鈥� Lynch said after being handed the Booker trophy. 鈥淭he rational part of me believed I was dooming my career by writing this novel, though I had to write the book anyway. We do not have a choice in such matters.鈥�
Lynch has called 鈥淧rophet Song,鈥� his fifth novel, an attempt at 鈥渞adical empathy鈥� that tries to plunge readers into the experience of living in a collapsing society.
鈥淚 was trying to see into the modern chaos,鈥� he told the Booker website. 鈥淭he unrest in Western democracies. The problem of Syria 鈥� the implosion of an entire nation, the scale of its refugee crisis and the West鈥檚 indifference. 鈥� I wanted to deepen the reader鈥檚 immersion to such a degree that by the end of the book, they would not just know, but feel this problem for themselves.鈥�
The five prize judges met to pick the winner on Saturday, less than 48 hours after far-right following a stabbing attack on a group of children. Edugyan said that immediate events didn鈥檛 directly influence the choice of winner.
Lynch said he was 鈥渁stonished鈥� by the riots 鈥渁nd at the same time I recognized the truth that this kind of energy is always there under the surface.鈥�
He said 鈥淧rophet Song鈥� 鈥� written over four years starting in 2018 鈥� 鈥渋s a counterfactual novel. It鈥檚 not a prophetic statement.鈥�
鈥淚 wrote the book to articulate the message that the things that are happening in this book are occurring timelessly throughout the ages and maybe we need to deepen our own responses to that," he told reporters.
The other finalists were Irish writer Paul Murray鈥檚 鈥淭he Bee Sting;鈥� American novelist Paul Harding鈥檚 鈥淭his Other Eden;鈥� Canadian author Sarah Bernstein鈥檚 鈥淪tudy for Obedience;鈥� U.S. writer Jonathan Escoffery鈥檚 鈥淚f I Survive You;鈥� and British author Chetna Maroo鈥檚 鈥淲estern Lane.鈥�
Edugyan said the choice of winner wasn't unanimous, but the six-hour judges鈥� meeting wasn't acrimonious.
鈥淲e all ultimately felt that this was the book that we wanted to present to the world and that this was truly a masterful work of fiction,鈥� she said.
Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize is open to English-language novels from any country published in the U.K. and Ireland. and has a reputation for transforming writers鈥� careers. Previous winners include Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Hilary Mantel.
Four Irish novelists and one from Northern Ireland have previously won the prize.
鈥淚t is with immense pleasure that I bring the Booker home to Ireland,鈥� Lynch said. Asked what he planned to do with the prize money, he said it would help him make payments on his tracker mortgage, which have soared along with inflation.
Lynch received his trophy from last year鈥檚 winner, Sri Lankan author , during a ceremony at Old Billingsgate, a grand former Victorian fish market in central London.
The evening included a speech from Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman who was jailed in Tehran for almost six years until 2022 on allegations of plotting the overthrow of Iran鈥檚 government 鈥� a charge that she, her supporters and rights groups denied.
She talked about the books that sustained her in prison, recalling how inmates ran an underground library and circulated copies of Atwood鈥檚 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale,鈥� set in an oppressive American theocracy.
鈥淏ooks helped me to take refuge into the world of others when I was incapable of making one of my own,鈥� Zaghari-Ratcliffe said. 鈥淭hey salvaged me by being one of the very few tools I had, together with imagination, to escape the Evin (prison) walls without physically moving.鈥�
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
