L.A. author Percival Everett wins National Book Award for retelling of ‘Huck Finn’

Percival Everett’s novel “James” is told from the perspective of Jim, Huck’s unlikely companion in the Mark Twain classic “Huckleberry Finn.” Percival Everett has won the National Book Award for Fiction for his novel “James,” a retelling of Mark Twain’s classic “Huckleberry Finn.” Published in March to widespread critical acclaim,“James” is told from the perspective of Jim, the escaped slave who joins Twain’s protagonist Huckleberry Finn on his journey down the Mississippi River. “I do not view the work as a corrective, but rather I see myself in conversation with Twain.” Accepting the honor at Wednesday’s National Book Awards Ceremony in New York, Everett — whose previous novel, “Erasure,” was adapted into the Oscar-winning 2023 comedy “American Fiction” — remarked that despite “feeling pretty low” in recent weeks, “As I look out at this, so much excitement about books, I have to say I do feel some hope.” “But it’s important to remember,” the USC professor of English continued, “that hope really is no substitute for strategy.” Last year, the National Book Awards lost several sponsors, including subscription service Book of the Month, after 20 finalists took the stage during the ceremony to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. She said stories like hers are “not historical fiction anymore.” “Until we have solved the problems of death and loneliness and their byproducts, war and climate change,” said Kate McKinnon, the ceremony’s host, “sensitive souls will continue to offer their theses of how to make the most of our fragile and fleeting time on this burning planet surrounded by other frightened hearts.” “And in that way, writing a book is nothing short of an act of kindness,” the “SNL” alumna added. Also among Wednesday’s honorees were Jason De León, for his nonfiction book “Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling,” and Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, winning the translated literature category for “Taiwan Travelogue.” Author Barbara Kingsolver won the award for distinguished contribution to American letters, which has previously been won by writers including Toni Morrison and Isabel Allende, while publisher W. Paul Coates — the father of author Ta-Nehisi Coates — won the 2024 Literarian Award, a lifetime achievement prize for outstanding service to the literary community.