Marlon James

From Nick Drake to Prince.

Prize-winning writer Marlon James shares his castaway choices with Lauren Laverne.

Marlon won the Man Booker Prize in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings, a novel which centres on an attempt to assassinate Bob Marley. Marlon was the first Jamaican to win the Prize.

After studying English at the University of the West Indies, he worked in advertising as a copywriter.

His first novel was rejected 78 times, and he thought he had destroyed every copy of it, until he met novelist Kaylie Jones at a writing workshop and she insisted on seeing it. She showed it to her publisher and his career was launched. The book, John Crow's Devil, was published in 2005.

His fourth novel, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, the first of a fantasy trilogy, was published in 2019.

DISC ONE: Ring the Alarm - Tenor Saw
DISC TWO: Things Behind The Sun - Nick Drake
DISC THREE: Mercy Street - Peter Gabriel
DISC FOUR: Manchild - Neneh Cherry
DISC FIVE: Summertime Rolls - Jane’s Addiction
DISC SIX: Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
DISC SEVEN: When Doves Cry - Prince
DISC EIGHT: In Limbo - Radiohead

BOOK CHOICE: Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
LUXURY CHOICE: A pressure cooker
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: When Doves Cry - Prince

Producer: Sarah Taylor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2019.