Marlon James fictional retelling of the 1976 attempted murder of Bob Marley. Marlon James, 44, who now lives in Minneapolis and teaches at Macalester College, is the first Jamaican author to win the prize in the British award's 47 years. It's also the first for Marlon James publisher, Oneworld Publications. ' 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. It moves at a terrific pace and will come to be seen as a classic of our times.