SHARJAH, 10th November, 2025 (WAM) -- When Paul Lynch walked onto the stage at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2025, the room was charged with anticipation. The Irish author, whose novel Prophet Song won the 2023 Booker Prize, was there to talk about "Fiction, Freedom and Fear." But what unfolded was a conversation about his writing process and the importance and relevance of storytelling in today's digital age.

His award-winning book has been translated into 41 languages.

When asked how the Booker Prize accolade changed his life, he shared: "When you're an unknown writer, you dream of the Booker Prize because you think it will give you the audience you deserve. But when it comes, it's a Faustian pact. It takes you away from your solitude, from that still, small voice that made you a writer in the first place."

He admitted that the glare of global attention had been disorienting. "Before the Booker Prize, I had peace. After it, I had interviews, translations, and noise. I'm only now finding my way back to silence."

Lynch described his writing as a deeply intuitive process, one that begins in mystery and only later becomes rational. Quoting filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, he added: "Intuition is the spear you throw into the dark. Intellect is the army you send to fetch it back."

When the conversation turned to artificial intelligence, Lynch's response was sharp and reflective. "AI might soon be able to write a decent crime novel," he said. "But what it can't do, not yet, is feel. It can't capture that ineffable voice, the ache that comes from being human."