The world-renowned Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho has celebrated his 62nd birthday by publishing his new novel The Winner is Alone.

Coelho's latest story takes place in 24 hours at the Festival de Cannes, focusing on the strength of dreams and fascination with fame.

"With this book I wanted to explore how dreams can be manipulated and how people can be destroyed in the process,” Elmundo quoted Coelho as saying.

"It's a reflection of what could happen anywhere in the world where there is a human being,” he said. “Everything that happens in Cannes might happen in the town where I live in Geneva in the Amazon jungle or anywhere."

Paulo Coelho is one of the most widely read and influential authors of recent decades, whose books have sold over 100 million copies worldwide and have been translated into and published in dozens of languages.

Coelho's first book, Hell Archives was published in 1982, but it was his 1986 Alchemist, which brought him international fame.

Brida (1990), The Valkyries (1992), The Fifth Mountain (1996), Manual of a Warrior of Light (1997), The Zahir (2005) and The Witch of Portobello (2006) are among his other works.

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