This Sunday (November 26th), the winner of the 2023 Booker Prize will be announced.
Two Irish writers have made this year's Booker Prize shortlist. It means that one third of the 2023 nominees for the prestidious international literary prize are from Ireland.
Paul Lynch is nominated for his novel Prophet Song, which is set in Dublin in a future where the country is sliding towards totalitarianism.
Paul Murray is also nominated for his work The Bee Sting, which is about a midlands family in financial and emotional crisis.
Both Dublin-based writers said they were influenced by the current instability around the world.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Listen: Paul Lynch talks Prophet Song with Oliver Callan on RTÉ Radio 1
Ireland's strong showing in the Booker Prize shortlist is a "return on investment" according to one of the judges, who predicts Ireland's support for writers will have a "profound effect for decades".
Professor James Sharpiro said it was no accident that Irish authors had done well.
"The quality of the writing is extraordinary," he said.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Listen: Paul Murray talks The Bee Sting with Brendan O'Connor on RTÉ Radio 1
Chair of the five-person judging panel, writer Esi Edugyan, also put it down to Ireland's "deep literary tradition".
The judges also revealed that Sebastian Barry narrowly lost out on making the shortlist with his novel Old God's Time.
It was his fifth time nominated and he had been shortlisted twice before.
Comedian and writer Robert Webb said some books were difficult to leave out and "particularly in that case".
Elaine Feeney was a fourth Irish writer in this year's longlist with her novel How To Build A Boat.
This year was the first time since 2005 that two Irish writers were shortlisted.
Both John Banville and Sebastian Barry were nominated, with Mr Banville going on to win it.
There were five judges who picked this year's 13-book longlist, and six for the shortlist out of 163 novels.
The finalists include one British, one Canadian, and two American authors as well as two Irish.
The winner will receive a £50,000 prize. However, the real financial reward will be in book sales, which have in the past increased by nearly 2,000% as a result of a Booker Prize win.
The 2023 shortlist is:
Author (Nationality), Title (Imprint)
Sarah Bernstein (Canadian), Study for Obedience (Granta Books)
Jonathan Escoffery (American), If I Survive You (4th Estate)
Paul Harding (American), This Other Eden (Hutchinson Heinemann)
Paul Lynch (Irish), Prophet Song (Oneworld)
Chetna Maroo (British), Western Lane (Picador)
Paul Murray (Irish), The Bee Sting (Hamish Hamilton)
