Paul Lynch

Paul Lynch was born on 9 May 1977 in Limerick, Ireland, although he was raised in Inishowen, Co. Donegal as his family moved when he was nine months old on account of his father’s job. Lynch later moved to Dublin, studying English and Philosophy for a time at University College Dublin, however, he didn’t graduate. He worked as deputy chief sub-editor and chief film critic for The Sunday Tribune, before converting to full time writing, releasing his debut novel, Red Sky in Morning to critical acclaim in 2013.  

His second novel, The Black Snow (2014) won two awards in France, the Prix Libr'à Nous for best foreign novel and the inaugural Prix des Lecteurs Privat. Lynch’s third novel, Grace, was published in 2017, and won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, the Ireland Francophonie Ambassadors’ Literary Award as well as being shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize and William Saroyan International Prize among others. In 2019, Lynch published his fourth novel, Beyond the Sea, which won the Prix Gens de Mers. 

Lynch’s fifth novel, Prophet Song (2023), quickly became his most celebrated work, for his depiction of a dystopian vision of Ireland under totalitarian fascist control. Prophet Song achieved massive international acclaim, earning shortlistings for Italy’s Strega European Prize, the Kirkus Prize in the US, and the An Post Irish Novel of the Year – as well as being Ireland’s overall bestselling book of 2023, winning the 2023 Booker Prize and the 2024 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. 

In 2024, Lynch was appointed Distinguished Writing Fellow at Maynooth University and was elected to Aosdána in recognition of his contributions to Irish literature.