Prize Winning Author Marlon James Featured at 2026 BVI Lit Fest
By Claudia Colli
Marlon James, whose book A Brief History of Seven Killings won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2015, will be featured at the 2026 BVI Lit Fest to be held from November 5th-8th. As a writer and an avid reader, the BVI Literary Festival with its exposure to international literary talent is a highlight of my calendar. Especially when one of the Fest’s guest speakers is the winner of numerous awards and a star of the literary world.
Since its inception in 2021, the Fest has headlined international authors, with an emphasis on Caribbean based writers. This year’s guests include writers from Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad among others. Additional guests include publishers and literary agents, who can foster the careers of budding local writers, through talks and workshops.
Marlon James Featured
Marlon James, who was born in Jamaica, is the first Jamaican born writer to win the Man Booker Prize. Now teaching at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota in the US, James is the author of numerous well received books including the Book of Night Women and John Crowe’s Devil. He has been long-listed for the 2026 Booker Prize for his newest novel, The Disappearers.
In its review of A Brief History of Seven Killings, the New York Times said: “The Jamaican novelist Marlon James won the Man Booker Prize on Tuesday for his novel: A Brief History of Seven Killings, a raw, violent epic that uses the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in 1976 to explore Jamaican politics, gang wars and drug trafficking.”
The book’s storyline is propelled through the use of multiple narrators, and a colorful array of characters stock the novel. “The Singer” (as Bob Marley is referred to throughout the book), vicious gang members, slick record producers and slippery CIA operatives, all play their deadly part.
The novel was also included in the NY Times’ list of 100 Best Books of the 21st century. In an interview on the Booker Prize website, James explained the inspiration behind his novels. “I’m more concerned with an incident’s aftermath than the thing itself, and fiction is ideally placed to bring what might be a closed-off chapter right into the open.”
Marlon James will be the headline guest at the Literary Festival’s Book Brunch at Long Bay Beach Resort on Sunday, November 8th.
Among the other international writers attending this year’s Festival is Etaf Rum. The Palestinian-American author, has an impressive resumé as an educator and entrepreneur. She is best known for her New York Times bestselling novels “A Woman Is No Man” and “Evil Eye.”
Other Writers
Featured writer, Ingrid Persaud, also has an impressive literary resumé. The Trinidadian born writer won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2017 and the BBC Short Story Prize in 2018.
Caled Femi is a poet, television director and photographer. Poor published in 2020 by Penguin Press won the Forward Prize for best first collection.
These and other guest speakers will be participating in multiple workshops and presentations throughout the 2026 Festival. There will be poetry seminars and others on how to publish your book. The Power of Our Stories and Women Who Write Islands will be among the topics discussed, as well as “An Introduction to International Author Forum”.
I have attended a number of Festival workshops and presentations. One of the most interesting workshops that I have attended is on memoir writing in 2023. One of that year’s featured guest writers, Charmaine Wilkerson, also attended the seminar. The workshop was held in one of the Community College’s classrooms where we all sat at compact student desks, the type where you use the arm rest to write on.
Charmaine hardly needed lessons in writing. Her novel “Black Cake,” was a gripping story about a Jamaican woman with a dark secret. The book was not only a best seller it was later made into a Hulu television series of the same name. I loved the book and subscribed to Hulu just so I could watch the series. I don’t know about Charmaine, but I learned a few tricks on how to outline and structure a memoir, ideas that I will tuck away for a future project.
2026 BVI Lit Fest Events
While most presentations are held at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, some are held at other island venues. Among the featured programs at this year’s Festival is “Sunset Story” which will be held at Brandywine Restaurant. It will include a double session. First up, is “Two Voices One Sea” moderated by Celeste Mohammed. It is followed by “Virgin Islands Noir” hosted by a selection of international and BVI writers including Traci Dea who teaches at the H.L.S. Community College, BVI poet, Richard Georges and Tiphanie Yanique, a St. Thomas born writer now teaching college in the US.
Additionally, aspiring writers can develop their craft by applying for the BVI Emerging writers Fellowship that is being sponsored by locally based VP Bank.
In all, the BVI Literary Fest will be filled with star studded writers, interesting presentations and motivational speakers. It is a chance for avid readers to meet some of the movers and shakers of the writing world and local writers to learn more about their craft.
For a complete list of speakers, programs and schedule go to:
A look at the 2023 BVI Lit Fest go to:
