Jamaican author Marlon James was named the winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize, for his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings.
The Man Booker Prize for fiction is a prestigious British prize awarded each year for best original novel, written in English and published in the UK. The award winner also receives £50,000 (roughly $76,000), according to Time.
A Brief History of Seven Killings is a 686-page epic set in Kingston, with over 75 characters and voices detailing a fictional history of the attempted murder of Bob Marley in 1976.
Referring to Bob Marley only as ‘The Singer’ throughout, A Brief History of Seven Killings retells a mythical assassination attempt through a myriad of sources, ranging from witnesses to FBI and CIA agents. Perhaps more importantly, the novel tells the tale of Jamaica in the 1970s and 1980s through an oral history that looks at the violence, politics and musical impact in the aftermath of the event.
First awarded in 1969, the Man Booker Prize is one of the most prestigious awards for high quality literary fiction written in English, and this is only the second year that the prize has been open to writers of any nationality. Previously, only authors from the UK & Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe were eligible for the award.
James, born in Kingston, became the first Jamaican author to receive the award, and said that he “hoped the award would draw attention to the flourishing literary scene in his home country,” via the NY Times.
“There’s this whole universe of really spunky creativity that’s happening,” James said. “I hope it brings more attention to what’s coming out of Jamaica and the Caribbean.”