Of Booker Prize and Bob Marley!

Marlon James made literary history by becoming the first Jamaican writer to win the prestigious Man Booker Prize for 2015 after beating British-Indian Sunjeev Sahota and four other authors.

“This is so surreal. I feel like I may wake up tomorrow and find all this was a dream,” said the 44-year-old, now based in Minneapolis.

James’s ‘A Brief History of Seven Killings’ has beaten Sahota’s ‘The Year of Runaways’ and four other titles to bag this year’s trophy at a ceremony held at London’s Guildhall last night.

“I hope this brings more attention to what’s coming out of Jamaica and the Caribbean, because I think there are some brand-new voices coming out who are exploring contemporary society, who are exploring what’s beyond politics, what’s beyond colonialism,” he said, after accepting the award from Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

The UK’s Royal Mail honoured James by issuing a special <g data-gr-id="17">post-mark</g>, which is being applied to millions of letters around the UK today.

The postmark reads: “Congratulations to Marlon James, winner of the 2015 Man Booker prize.” 

James’ winning work, his third novel, is inspired by the real-life attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the 1970s and explores Jamaican politics through the lens of reggae music.