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Macalester College professor and Jamaica native Marlon James has won the Man Booker Prize for fiction.


His third novel, "A Brief History of Seven Killings," revolves around an attempt to assassinate reggae superstar Bob Marley in the 1970s and its aftermath, which spins into the Jamaican community in Brooklyn. Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character, sometimes in Jamaican patois.

Marlon James discusses 'Seven Killings'

In awarding the prize, the Man Booker judges praised the novel as being full of the "sheer pleasure of language." The prize includes a $77,000 award, but also an expected surge in international sales.  

"Seven Killings" has already won an American Book Award and a Minnesota Book Award and has been optioned for a miniseries by HBO.

Marlon James on his novel 'The Book of Night Women'


The Man Booker Prize is awarded annually to an original novel, written in English and published in the United Kingdom. 

Two years ago, writers of all nationalities became eligible for the Booker, previously open only to British, Irish and Commonwealth authors.

James, who has taught at Macalester since 2007, is 

scheduled to read at the Hopkins Center for the Arts

 on Oct. 29 and 30 as part of the Friends of Hennepin County Library's "Pen Pals" series.

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Euan Kerr

Author

His third novel, "A Brief History of Seven Killings," which centers on the attempted assassination of Bob Marley, has already won an American Book Award and a Minnesota Book Award.

Macalester's Marlon James wins Man Booker Prize

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