Marlon James

Inheritance Tracks

10 years ago Marlon James published 'A Brief History of Seven Killings' his bestselling novel which would go onto be awarded the Booker Prize.

Born in Jamaica in 1970 his parents shared with him their passion for poetry and Shakespeare – but Marlon preferred to be in his room reading comics like X-Men...the mutant group who went onto inspire him to write his 'Black Leopard, Red Wolf' trilogy.

For those who haven’t already read it, A Brief History of Seven Killings' is broken up into 5 sections, each named after a different piece of music, and music continues to play a prominent role in his writing life.

In his acceptance speech for the Booker Prize back in 2015 he heralded the likes of Bob Marley for championing Carribean voices saying he was: “The first to recognise that the voice coming out our mouths was a legitimate voice for fiction and for poetry”.

With all that in mind we were fascinated to know what Marlon James’s Inheritance Tracks would be.

Inherited: 54/46 Was My Number by Toots and the Maytals Passed on: Equinox by John Coltrane

Producer: Ben Mitchell