Marlon James Wins Brooklyn Book Festival’s 2025 BoBi Award

Jul 23, 2025

The Brooklyn Book Festival has announced Marlon James as the winner of the annual Best in Brooklyn (BoBi) Award, presented each year to an author whose work “best exemplifies or speaks to the spirit of Brooklyn,” according to the organization. The award will be presented during the 20th annual Book Festival, which will take over New York with nine days of literary events in all five boroughs this September.

James is the author of such novels as A Brief History of Seven Killings, John Crow’s Devil, and The Book of Night Women. His most recent novel, Moon Witch, Spider King is the second book in his Dark Star fantasy trilogy, which kicked off with the 2019 National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf. His forthcoming novel, The Disappearers, will be released in 2026.

Past BoBi winners include Hilton Als, N.K. Jemisin, Colson Whitehead, and Jacqueline Woodson, among others.

Other key events at the Brooklyn Book Festival include the Virtual Festival Day, Children’s Day, and the flagship Festival Day & Literary Marketplace. The festival’s author lineup has also been announced, and includes Alison Bechdel, Andrea Long Chu, Joyce Carol Oates, John Green, Melissa Febos, Imani Perry, and others.

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