The Latest Breaking News from Paul Lynch

Editorial: The Booker prize has gone to a dystopian vision of a totalitarian Ireland. But imagined futures needn’t always be bleak

The writer was on the operating table for cancer, then exactly a year later he found out his nightmarish vision had made the shortlist. He reveals why the words for Prophet Song came out with such urgency, there was no time for paragraph breaks

The philosopher Hannah Arendt’s much-quoted description of the “banality of evil” could be applied to the disquieting story told in Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. The Booker prize-winning novel is a perfect study of the banality of totalitarianism.

The thing about Prophet Song, Paul Lynch’s unexpected winner of the Booker, is that it’s almost hilariously unprophetic. It starts with the Irish secret police knocking at the door, looking for a trades unionist, and goes on to a dystopian vision of a fascist state.

Irish writer Paul Lynch's Booker Prize-winning fifth novel is a timely and urgent book described as powerful, claustrophobic and horribly real, capturing the social and political anxieties of our time. The book is set in a dystopian Dublin in the grips of totalitarianism. Some of the themes of "Prophet Song"…

In this culture update, FRANCE 24's Jennifer Ben Brahim gives us a sneak peek of Beyoncé's concert film of her billion-dollar "Renaissance" tour. The film gives fans a glimpse of behind-the-scenes action and the best on-stage moments. Jennifer also tells us more about this year's Booker Prize winner – Irish…

The winner was one of three Pauls shortlisted for the Prize

The author said he found himself ‘living through’ scenes he had already written for his book Prophet Song during the pandemic lockdowns.

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Irish author takes home one of the top awards in literature

Lynch, 46, had been the bookies' favorite to win the prestigious prize, which usually brings a big boost in sales.