USC Dornsife’s Percival Everett wins National Book Award for ‘James’
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.”