St. Francis College welcomed Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings and the winner of the prestigious Man Booker Prize, as the latest author to speak for the Walt Whitman Writer's Series on April 26, 2016.

(Watch Marlon James)

James previously came to St. Francis College during the Brooklyn Book Festival in September 2015. He appeared on a panel with other authors who were selected for the short list of the 2015 St. Francis College Literary Prize. Maud Casey won the award for her book, The Man Who Walked Away.

Editor of BuzzFeed Book, Isaac Fitzgerald conducted the interview and Q+A. Fitzgerald has hosted four previous events at the College; conversations with Margaret Atwood, Junot Díaz, Paul Beatty, and Stephen King with Peter Straub, Owen King and Emma Straub.

Marlon James was born in Jamaica in 1970. His most recent novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, won the 2015 Man Booker Prize. It was also on the short list for the St. Francis College Literary Prize, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature for fiction, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction, and the Minnesota Book Award. It was also a New York Times Notable Book. James is also the author of The Book of Night Women, which won the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Minnesota Book Award, and was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award in fiction and an NAACP Image Award. His first novel, John Crow's Devil, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for first fiction and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was a New York Times Editors' Choice. James lives in Minneapolis.

James is the fourteenth writer to visit St. Francis for the Walt Whitman Series which continues to bring top contemporary authors to Brooklyn Heights to share their work and writing experiences with students, faculty and the entire Brooklyn community. Previous authors include Paul Beatty, Junot Díaz, Charles Baxter, George Saunders, James Salter, Colum McCann, Ben Marcus, Dinaw Mengestu, Kate Christensen, Julie Orringer, Jonathan Lethem, Darcey Steinke, and Rick Moody.

Isaac Fitzgerald has been a firefighter, worked on a boat, and been given a sword by a king, thereby accomplishing three out of five of his childhood goals. He is the editor of BuzzFeed Books and co-author of Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them. More at www.isaacfitzgerald.net.

The Walt Whitman Series is a continuation of St. Francis College's commitment to supporting Brooklyn's literary community. In addition to visits by these authors, the College also offers the biennial $50,000 St. Francis College Literary Prize and helps sponsor and host events for the Brooklyn Book Festival; giving students, faculty and the entire Brooklyn community a front row seat to some of the best and most diverse professional writers at work today.