Jamaican novelist Marlon James won the 2015 Man Booker Prize on Tuesday with his book, A Brief History of Seven Killings.

Inspired by the 1976 assassination attempt on Bob Marley, A Brief History of Seven Killings follows a host of characters, including gunmen, drug dealers, CIA agents, reporters and “The Singer” himself, to explore the unrest of Kingston, Jamaica, in the ’70s.

“It is a crime novel that moves beyond the world of crime and takes us deep into a recent history we know far too little about,” wrote Michael Wood, chair of the judges for the Booker Prize. “It moves at a terrific pace and will come to be seen as a classic of our times.”

James is the first Jamaican-born novelist to be shortlisted and win the prize, only becoming eligible for the award in 2013 when the Man Booker Prize widened its criteria to include any English-language work of fiction published in the UK. Previously, only writers from the UK and Commonwealth nations, Ireland or Zimbabwe were eligible. More.

See: Mashable

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