Marlon James was born in Jamaica in 1970. His most recent novel, Moon Witch, Spider King, is the second novel in his Dark Star fantasy trilogy. Black Leopard, Red Wolf, the first novel in James’s Dark Star trilogy, was a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award. His novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, was the winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize. He is also the author of the novels John Crow’s Devil and The Book of Night Women, which won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.