Marlon James is the Man Booker Prize winner
Marlon James from Jamaica has won the Man Booker Prize for his novel inspired by the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the 1970s. A Brief History of Seven Killings, the 680-page epic was very violent and swearing and full of surprises. The £50,000 winner as announced on Tuesday, 13th October 2015, at London’s Guildhall.
James is the first Jamaican author to win the Man Booker Prize and after receiving the award from Duchess of Cornwall, he said most of his novel had been inspired by reggae music. He dedicated the award to his late father who had shape his sensibilities in literacy. The novel set across three decades, uses true crime story of the attempt on the life of reggae star Marely to explore the turbulent world of politics and Jamaican gangs. The novel went biblical height with 75 characters and according the Michael Wood chair of the judges “most exciting and one of pleasures of reading it is that you are not quite sure who the next narrator will be”.
Bob Marley and Peter Tosh the reggae singers were the first to recognise legitimate voice for fiction and poetry.
This is the second year the Man Booker Prize has been open to all authors writing in English regardless of their nationality or where they come from. James who currently lives in Minneapolis US, would expect boost in sales following his win.
This year’s Man Booker shortlist had two authors from the UK, two from the US and one each from Jamaica and Nigeria.
Juliet Mabey and Novin Doostdar, husband and wife team ,who set up a small London publishing firm 30 years ago, snapped up Marlon Jame’s epic tale of real crime and violence “A Brief History Of Seven Killings” for Oneworld Publications as they were attracted by the first three chapters.
Marlon James , son of a police detective , born in 1970 in Kingston Jamaica, now teaches creative writing in Minnesota in the United States. His first novel was rejected by 78 publishers and agents, which prompted him to give up writing and deleted and destroyed all copies of the manuscript. His debut published novel was John Crow’s Devil and his second The Book of Night Women won the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Price and was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award. His next novel is set in the 11th century, “I am a big student of Dark Ages”.