WRITER

Marlon James

1970 - Today

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Marlon James (born 24 November 1970) is a Jamaican writer. He is the author of five novels: John Crow's Devil (2005), The Book of Night Women (2009), A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014), which won him the 2015 Man Booker Prize, Black Leopard, Red Wolf (2019), and Moon Witch, Spider King (2022). Now living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, James teaches literature at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Marlon James has received more than 30,797 page views. His biography is available in 24 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 23 in 2019). Marlon James is the 7,080th most popular writer (down from 6,367th in 2019), the 100th most popular biography from Jamaica (down from 98th in 2019) and the 7th most popular Jamaican Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 31k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 33.65

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 24

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.35

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.95

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Breve historia de siete asesinatos
Fiction
De reggae-zanger Bob Marley lijkt een speelbal te zijn van politici en criminelen op Jamaica.
A Brief History of Seven Killings
Black Leopard, Red Wolf
The epic novel from Marlon James, the Man Booker Prize-winning author of A Brief History of Seven Killings: an African Game of Thrones. In the stunning first novel in Marlon James's Dark Star trilogy, myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child. Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: "He has a nose," people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard. As Tracker follows the boy's scent--from one ancient city to another; into dense forests and across deep rivers--he and the band are set upon by creatures intent on destroying them. As he struggles to survive, Tracker starts to wonder: Who, really, is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep Tracker from finding him? And perhaps the most important questions of all: Who is telling the truth, and who is lying? Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written a novel unlike anything that's come before it: a saga of breathtaking adventure that's also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf is both surprising and profound as it explores the fundamentals of truth, the limits of power, and our need to understand them both.
Una breu història de set assassinats
John Crow's Devil
Fiction
The incredible debut novel from 2015 Man Booker Prize winner Marlon James "A powerful first novel . . . Writing with assurance and control, James uses his small-town drama to suggest the larger anguish of a postcolonial society struggling for its own identity." --New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) "Elements coalesce in a Jamaican stew spicier than jerk chicken. First novelist James moves effortlessly between lyrical patois and trenchant observations . . . It's 150-proof literary rum guaranteed to intoxicate and enchant. Highly recommended." --Library Journal (*starred* review) This stunning debut novel tells the story of a biblical struggle in a remote Jamaican village in 1957 with language as taut as classic works by Cormac McCarthy and a richness reminiscent of early Toni Morrison. Marlon James was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1970. His second novel, The Book of Night Women, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, was released in 2009 to widespread critical acclaim. Currently a professor of literature and creative writing at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, he divides his time between Jamaica, New York City, and the Twin Cities.

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Marlon James ranks 7,080 out of 7,302Before him are Rainbow Rowell, Terézia Mora, Nadia Ghulam, Javier Sierra, Lucía Puenzo, and Sofia Andrukhovych. After him are Laurie Halse Anderson, Frances Hardinge, Al Roker, Nicolas Mathieu, Chris Moneymaker, and Chris Savino.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1970, Marlon James ranks 819Before him are Howard Jones, Pete Rock, Pauline Konga, Paul Bitok, Lin Li, and Yuri Kovtun. After him are Zack Ward, Tomasz Makowski, Ko Ishikawa, Greg Yaitanes, Sirous Dinmohammadi, and Beth Orton.

Others Born in 1970

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In Jamaica

Among people born in Jamaica, Marlon James ranks 100 out of 189Before him are Heavy D (1967), Juliet Cuthbert (1964), Barrington Levy (1964), Leon Bailey (1997), Shericka Jackson (1994), and Ray Stewart (1965). After him are Hansle Parchment (1990), Deon Hemmings (1968), Shabba Ranks (1966), Chris Gayle (1979), Shereefa Lloyd (1982), and Buju Banton (1973).

Among WRITERS In Jamaica

Among writers born in Jamaica, Marlon James ranks 7Before him are Marcus Garvey (1887), Mary Seacole (1805), Leonard Howell (1898), Linton Kwesi Johnson (1952), Claude McKay (1889), and Louise Bennett-Coverley (1919). After him are Nalo Hopkinson (1960), and Claudia Rankine (1963).