Q: OneWorld is publishing a 10th anniversary edition of your Man Booker Prize-wining novel A Brief History of Seven Killings . Did this level of recognition alter your approach to writing? And what has been the most positive outcome you have experienced as a result of winning the award? ~ Q: In previous interviews, you have discussed avoiding the trap of being a tourist in your own novel. How do you build imaginary and real worlds within your work and does this process vary based on the genre you're working in? Q: In your epic Dark Star Trilogy, you've blended elements from African history and folklore into both setting and characters. Can you elaborate on which branches of African mythology influenced you the most? And were there any deliberate subversions of Western traditions within your narrative? Q: You've mentioned Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, Tolkien, and Neil Gaiman as writers who've influenced your work. Are there any new voices who have inspired you? Q: As Caribbean Heritage month approaches in June, could you recommend six books that offer visitors a deeper understanding of the Caribbean experience, culture and history? The Bridge of Beyond Patsy The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion Abeng Before Night Falls Texaco Why do book collections matter? Book a consultation with a ~personal curator Contact Quick Links Follow us @ultimatelibrary Join our community
Marlon James on 10 Years of A Brief History of Seven Killings
20 May 2024
As the announcement of the 2024 International Booker Prize approaches, we had the honor of speaking with Marlon James, whose polyphonic novel,
A Brief History of Seven Killings
, won the Booker Prize in 2015. Spanning three decades and narrated through a chorus of voices, James's epic reimagines the attempted assassination of Bob Marley, offering a holistic examination of Jamaican society. Since winning the literary award, James has ventured into a new genre with his African fantasy trilogy, where each book recounts the same story from a different character's perspective. The first volume,
Black Leopard, Red Wolf
, is narrated by Tracker, whose magical sense of smell guides them on a mission to find a lost child. Our conversation with James delved into the impacts of winning the Booker Prize, his intricate process of world-building, the emerging voices in literature that he finds inspiring, and his book recommendations for Caribbean Heritage Month this June.
The most positive outcome has been the translation of the book into 27 languages which allows it to reach so many people from different countries, cultures, and linguistic backgrounds. It's amazing to see readers from all over the world liking the book, seeing something of themselves in it, and finding that it speaks to their experiences in ways I could never have anticipated. Toni Morrison talks about how Tolstoy couldn't have known he was writing for a black girl in Ohio, and similarly, I never imagined that I was writing for such a diverse audience, including a white audience. It's humbling and overwhelming and also restores my faith in the future. Although it's a very Jamaican book about Jamaica, there are elements in it that resonate with people outside of the country.
~It hasn’t changed my approach to writing. When I'm writing, I'm pretty much in a vacuum, except for the books that I'm reading. I've never carried readers' expectations into how write. I'm lucky that my readers have come to expect anything which gives me a freedom that other writers might not have.
Writing stories, for me at least, begins with character. What do they want? What do they desire? What do they dislike and fear? I don't think plot is more important than character or imagery more important than setting. I don't rank one task above another. Character and setting lead back to each other. But I do think that if you start close to the people in your book, close to your characters, many of the other aspects of writing sort themselves out. ~ ~Whether it's historical or fantasy, whether I'm discovering a world or creating it, the same rules apply. I need to understand the world to write about it with authority and complexity. You can see the difference when comparing a journalist writing about a country they know intimately to one writing about a country they're visiting—the prose is completely different. I don't want my reader to feel like a tourist either. I want them to feel as if they have been waiting 200 years beside a character, observing how Jamaican or mythical African society is just like their own. By jumping into the middle of a world, a writer can provide an experience that goes beyond merely glancing from a distance. I hope after finishing my books, the reader feels as if the narrative couldn’t have happened anywhere else.
I was most influenced by North African history. The histories of Egypt and Ethiopia were particularly inspiring in shaping how I write royalty and enabled me to move away from the typical British or Viking models. To do this, I had to set aside the lens through which I've viewed literature my whole life. I couldn't enter an African city like Dickens or Flaubert because the value systems are so different. My characters needed to reflect these differences. These distinct principles had to inform when they were explicit or modest, which types of human life they valued, and to what extent these opinions were normalized. I had to close the distance between me and my imagined world because otherwise it wouldn't feel real or experienced. It was an exercise in listening, an exercise in not imposing my perspective on a reality so different from my own, yet still giving everyone humanity. ~ ~Condensing possibilities to find a singular truth is a Western concept. When you leave behind the European sensibilities, there is no such thing as an authentic story, the director's cut or an authorised version. I’m not going to tell the reader who to believe. By the end of the Dark Star Trilogy the decision of who is telling the truth is left to the reader.
I'm constantly finding inspiration. I'm inspired by Brit Bennett and the way she writes about family. Henry Hoke's novel
Open Throat
was my top pick last year because who doesn’t want to read about a gay mountain lion lost in LA? Novels like
My Sister, the Serial Killer
by Oyinkan Braithwaite remind me why literary writers should borrow from the crime genre whether it be pacing or capturing human nature at its worst.
BY Simone Schwarz-Bart
This literary masterpiece, set on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, traces Telumee's life story as she grapples with poverty, the intricacies of love, and the realities of domestic life. With more philosophy than plot, Schwarz-Bart explores love, spirituality, and the legacy of slavery in her dream like prose.
BY Nicole Dennis Benz
Yearning to escape her home in Jamaica, Patsy dreams of reinventing herself in New York and reuniting with her oldest friend, Cicely. However, she is quickly confronted with the harsh realities of the American dream. First she must leave behind her daughter Tru and, then build a life in an unfriendly city as an undocumented immigrant.
BY Kei Miller
A cartographer attempts to map his way to the Rastaman's eternal city of Zion, only to discover that a place cannot be controlled simply by plotting it. Jamaican poet Kei Miller explores the conflicts between belief systems, illustrating that there are multiple ways to understand a territory.
BY Michelle Cliff
In this lyrical coming-of-age tale, twelve-year-old Clare Savage grapples with understanding the complexities of her world in Jamica. Clare is challenged to reconcile the history and experiences that mold the lives of those around her. Being the light-skinned daughter of a middle-class family, she confronts the paradoxes woven into issues of class, color, history, and mythology.
BY Reinaldo Arenas
Reinaldo Arenas, the self-declared "bad poet in love with the moon," chronicles his journey from rural Cuba to his eventual passing in New York four decades later. His electrifying memoir, published posthumously in 1993, raises the question: "How do you embrace your sexual identity in a society staunchly resistant to acceptance?"
BY Patrick Chamoiseau
Chamoiseau's novel spans 150 years of post-slavery Caribbean history, told through Marie-Sophie Laborieux's perspective, the daughter of a liberated slave. Informed by oral tradition, it captures life on the edge of Fort de France in a town facing erasure.
Thank you to Marlon James for discussing his work with us. For more on James's novels, visit his
website.
B
uy tickets to Marlon's talk with
Fane
and check out the dates for his
Book Tour
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