Irish Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch has been shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award for his highly acclaimed novel Prophet Song.
Seventy-one books were nominated by 83 libraries around the world for the Dublin Literary Award.
All 71 books were read by the five judges who chose the shortlist of six books.
Worth €100,000 to the winner, the award is the world’s most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction in the English language. If the book was translated, as two of this year’s nominees were, the author receives €75,000 and the translator receives €25,000.
The winner of the 2023 Booker Prize, Prophet Song is set in a dystopian version of present-day Ireland where a far-right political party has seized control and pushed the country towards totalitarianism.
“Most of the time the terrible things that happen in the world happen far away. Too far away maybe to really get our attention or empathy. Paul Lynch has written a novel that makes these terrible things happen on our doorstep,” the judges’ citation on Prophet Song read.
“Step by step, week by week the main characters are drawn into uncertainty and violence. And we understand it, we see what happens; what unfolds is unavoidable. Two American novels were also shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, James by Percival Everett and North Woods by Daniel Mason. Canadian writer Michael Crummey was shortlisted for The Adversary.
Rounding out the shortlist were two books translated into English, Not a River by Argentinian writer Selva Almada, translated from Spanish by Annie McDermott, and We Are Light by Dutch writer Gerda Blees, translated by Michele Hutchison.
Sponsored by Dublin City Council, nominations for the Dublin Literary Award are submitted by libraries and readers in major cities around the world.
The winner of the Dublin Literary Award will be chosen by a six-member judging panel, with the winner to be announced by Ms Blain on Thursday, May 22 during the International Literature Festival Dublin.
The shortlist:
Selva Almada – Not a River
Gerda Blees – We Are Light
Michael Crummey – The Adversary
Percival Everett – James
Paul Lynch – Prophet Song
Daniel Mason – North Woods