Booker Prize 2023: What Made Paul Lynch's 'Prophet Song' Stand Out

It was a year of remarkable literature from all over the world. But some popular literary works of the year failed to make the cut to the Booker shortlist. From Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng's soul-stirring 'The House of Doors' to Nigerian author Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀'s 'A Spell of Good Things', the shocks were too many to bear. But still, few would disagree that Irish author Paul Lynch's Prophet Song deserved the accolade it got this year.

Apart from Paul Lynch's 'Prophet Song', Chetna Maroo's 'Western Lane', Paul Harding's 'This Other Eden', Johanthan Escoffery's 'If I Survive You', Paul Murray's 'The Bee Sting' and Sarah Bernstein's 'Study for Obedience' made it to the Booker shortlist this year

The book imagines Ireland's descent into fascism and has been described as a 'crucial book for our current times'. Prophet Song captures some of the biggest social and political anxieties of our age, from the rise of political extremism to the global plight of refugees.

The Booker Prize jury described the 'Prophet Song' as 'soul-shattering and true', adding that readers 'will not soon forget its warnings'.

In his acceptance speech for the prize, Lynch said: "If you use what is within you, it will save you. If you do not use what is within you, it will destroy you. My writing has saved me." The writer was on the operating table for cancer when he began bringing Prophet Song alive. Exactly a year later, he won the Booker Prize.