Irish writer Paul Lynch won the Booker Prize UPSC

BOOKER PRIZE

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Picture Courtesy: thebookerprizes.com

Context: Irish writer Paul Lynch has won the Booker Prize for his novel "Prophet Song".

Key Highlights

Irish writer Paul Lynch won the prestigious Booker Prize for his novel "Prophet Song". The award ceremony took place in London where Lynch was presented with the 50,000-pound ($63,000) literary prize.
"Prophet Song" follows the story of a woman striving to safeguard her family amidst Ireland's collapse into totalitarianism and war.
The judges praised the novel as "a triumph of emotional storytelling, bracing and brave." They highlighted Lynch's remarkable language skills, acknowledging his ability to achieve stunning feats with words.
The book triumphed over five other finalists selected from a pool of 163 novels submitted by publishers from Ireland, the U.K., the U.S., and Canada.
Lynch described "Prophet Song" as an exploration of "radical empathy," aiming to immerse readers in the experience of living within a collapsing society.

Booker Prize

●The Booker Prize is a prestigious literary award given annually to the best novel written in the English language and published in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

●It was founded in 1969 by Booker McConnell, a British conglomerate. The prize was originally known as the Booker Prize for Fiction, and it was awarded to a single novel each year.

●In 2002, the prize was renamed the Man Booker Prize after a sponsorship deal with the Man Group, an investment management firm.

●In 2019, the sponsorship deal with the Man Group ended, and the prize was reverted to its original name, the Booker Prize.

Eligibility and Selection Process

●To be eligible for the Booker Prize, a novel must be written in the English language and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. The novel must be a work of fiction that has been published for the first time in the year of the award.

●The Booker Prize is awarded by a panel of five judges, who are all well-respected figures in the literary world. The judges read all of the eligible novels and then select a shortlist of six novels. The winner of the Booker Prize is announced at a ceremony in London in November of each year.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. Who won the Booker Prize for the novel "Prophet Song"?

A) James Joyce

B) Samuel Beckett

C) Paul Lynch

D) W.B. Yeats

Answer: C

Explanation: Paul Lynch, the Irish writer, won the Booker Prize for his novel "Prophet Song."