Percival Everett, acclaimed USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences professor, has been awarded the prestigious 2024 National Book Award in the fiction category for James, a re-imagining of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
This marks another extraordinary milestone in a year of accolades for Everett, who recently received the Kirkus Prize for James and was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize.
In his acceptance speech, Everett’s quiet, self-deprecating humor came through. “I want to thank the National Book Foundation and the judges for putting their reputations on the line here,” he said, before thanking his editors, publishers, publicist and agent.
“And I have to thank my teenage sons, Henry and Myles, whose near complete apathy about my career helps me keep things in perspective,” he said. “And as always, my best friend and wife, Danzy Senna.”
In its review of James, The New York Times praised the book as “Everett’s most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful. Beneath the wordplay, and below the packed dirt floor of Everett’s moral sensibility, James is an intensely imagined human being.”
With more than 30 published books, including Erasure — which was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film — Everett’s influence spans genres and generations. Known for its sharp, satirical take on race and the publishing industry, Erasure helped to establish Everett as a vital voice in American literature and was named by The New York Times as one of the best books of the 21st century.
As a Distinguished Professor of English at USC Dornsife, Everett has been recognized throughout his career with honors including the Arts and Letters Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Critics Circle. He is also a Guggenheim Fellow and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, cementing his reputation as one of the most versatile and respected voices in contemporary literature.
Everett’s achievement is one of several recent honors awarded to USC Dornsife English professors whose books have garnered widespread acclaim. His colleagues, including Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen and celebrated author Maggie Nelson, both of whom had books named to The New York Times list of the best books of the 21st century, exemplify the depth of talent and scholarly excellence that defines USC Dornsife’s English department. Together, they continue to shape contemporary literary discourse, inspiring readers and the next generation of writers and scholars alike.
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