Marlon James on (Finally) Writing a Novel That Draws From His Life
Says a narrator in Marlon James’s freshly Booker-nominated The Disappearers, “I’ve made such a terrible mess out of being a homo.” The novel’s protagonists are all gay men in ‘80s and ‘90s Jamaica; each makes similar proclamations. “But the statement
In Marlon James's Booker-nominated novel, The Disappearers, set in 1980s and 1990s Jamaica, the protagonists are all gay men who grapple with societal discrimination. One character, 18-year-old Eddy Porteous, writes in his journal, "People just want to beat us to death." The novel borrows heavily from James's own experiences and those of the gay Jamaican community, drawing parallels to his own childhood in Kingston.
An amateur, all-gay, multigenerational play is slated to perform in Jamaica in 1988, but a violent incident disrupts rehearsals and disperses the actors. James, who had to wait six novels to draw from his life, reveals that this book is rooted in his personal experiences, but insists it is not autofiction. Instead, he says, "It's a weird kind of FOMO for me.
Even the bad stuff." The novel's main character, Jordan Brown, is a 25-year-old "sometime prostitute" and serves as the novel's vengeful protagonist, embodying James's and his interviewees' rage.
Written by urgent.news from Literary Hub's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
