Winner of the 2023 Booker Prize, Prophet Song, by Paul Lynch, presents a startling vision of a country sliding into authoritarianism and a deeply human portrait of a mother’s fight to hold her family together.
This event is brought to you by Dallas Arts & Letters Live, in partnership with Deep Vellum.
On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police on her step. They have arrived to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist. Ireland is falling apart, caught in the grip of a government turning toward tyranny. As the life she knows and the ones she loves disappear before her eyes, Eilish must contend with the dystopian logic of her unraveling country. How far will she go to save her family? And what—or who—is she willing to leave behind?
Paul Lynch is the award-winning author of several novels, including Beyond the Sea, Grace, The Black Snow, and Red Sky in Morning. Prophet Song was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice.
Will Evans is a publisher, translator, and entrepreneur with a knack for finding undertold, outstanding stories and connection them to audiences. In 2013, Evans founded Deep Vellum Publishing, a nonprofit, independent book publisher dedicated to translating the world's best novels into English for American audiences. Deep Vellum Books followed in 2016 to serve as a cultural community center with literature at the heart of its programming.
Arts & Letters Live is a literary and performing arts series featuring award-winning authors and performers of regional, national, and international acclaim. This series is recognized for its creative multidisciplinary programming—combining literature with visual arts, music, and film—and for commissioning new work from musicians, dancers, and poets inspired by works of art in the Museum's collection and special exhibitions. The series is celebrating its 33rd season in 2024.