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KINGSTON, Jamaica, Mar 27 2016 – 2013 Silver Musgrave awardee, Marlon James was officially presented with his medal and plaque in a special ceremony at the Institute of Jamaica in downtown Kingston recently.
James, who is the first Jamaican author to win the U.K.’s most prestigious literary award, Man Booker Prize, for his Fiction Novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, was being recognised for outstanding merit in literature. He was elated in being awarded the Musgrave Silver award by the IOJ.
“To be recognised by people I grew up with, is a quite humbling and welcoming experience. Thank you IOJ for waiting three years to present me with this award.”
James, who is an English and Creative Writing Lecturer at Macalester College since 2007 is best known for his latest fiction novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings. The 680-page tale inspired by the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the 1970s explores multiple genres including: the political thriller, the oral biography and the classic whodunit. James also edited an anthology of Caribbean fiction for publishing house McSweeney’s.
In his remarks, James expressed annoyance for people in the US and UK who assume he got his intelligence overseas. The Wolmer’s Boys School Alum debunked this claim when he credited the Jamaican education system for its impact on his achievement.
Born in 1970 and a native of Kingston Jamaica, Marlon James has emerged as one of the most unique voices in Jamaican literature. Described by one critic as “at once breathtakingly daring and wholly in command of his craft,” James has already accumulated an impressive collection of awards. A graduate of the University of the West Indies where he earned a degree in Literature in 1991 and the Wilkes University in Pennsylvania from which he emerged with a Masters’ degree in Creative Writing, James has seen his short fiction published in the anthologies Iron Balloons, Bronx Noir, Kingston Noir and Silent Voices.
The Musgrave Award was established in 1889 as a memorial to Sir Anthony Musgrave, governor of Jamaica, who founded the Institute of Jamaica in 1879.
Musgrave Medals are awarded by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of notable contributions to Literature, Science and Art in Jamaica and the West Indies.
A Silver Medal is awarded for outstanding merit in Literature, Science or the Arts.
