Marlon James, Jamaican Novelist Wins Man Booker Prize
The Jamaican novelist Marlon James won the Man Booker Prize on Tuesday for his novel “A Brief History of Seven Killings,” a raw, violent epic that uses the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in 1976 to explore Jamaican politics, gang wars and drug trafficking. Mr. James is the first Jamaican-born author to win the Man Booker, Britain’s most prestigious literary award. At a ceremony at London’s Guildhall, Mr. James said he was so certain that he would not win that he did not prepare an acceptance speech.
“I’m not an easy writer to like,” he said, referring to his experimental style.
The Booker judges praised Mr. James’s stylistic range and his unflinching exploration of violence, cronyism and corruption.
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