History of the Caribbean/Writing from History
Marlon James is the first Jamaican author to take home the U.K.’s most prestigious literary award. In the award winning work, James combines masterful storytelling with brilliant skill at characterization and an eye for detail to forge a bold novel of dazzling ambition and scope. He explores Jamaican history through the perspectives of multiple narrators and genres: the political thriller, the oral biography, and the classic whodunit confront the untold history of Jamaica in the 1970’s, with excursions to the assassination attempt on reggae musician Bob Marley, as well as the country’s own clandestine battles during the cold war. James cites influences as diverse as Greek tragedy, William Faulkner, the LA crime novelist James Ellroy, Shakespeare, Batman, and the X-Men.
A recipient of many literary awards, James was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1970. He graduated from the University of the West Indies in 1991 with a degree in Language and Literature, and from Wilkes University in Pennsylvania in 2006 with a masters in creative writing. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota and teaches English and creative writing at Macalester College.
James will talk about "writing from history," specifically Caribbean history, and will also read from his works.
Mr. James' Athenaeum presentation is the 2017 Golo Mann Lecture and is sponsored by the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies.