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Pasadena’s 23rd annual One City, One Story community reading project will feature a conversation with Percival Everett, author of this year’s selection “James,” on Saturday, March 15, at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.
The free public event begins at 2 p.m. following an Interpretive Dance performance based on the novel from 1:30 to 2 p.m. at 585 E. Colorado Blvd.
Everett will discuss his experiences writing the novel and participate in a question-and-answer session immediately following his talk.
“James,” which reimagines Mark Twain’s classic “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of the enslaved character Jim, has garnered significant critical acclaim in literary circles.
The novel has won the 2024 National Book Award, the 2024 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the 2024 B&N Book of the Year, and the 2024 Kirkus Prize for Fiction, while also being named a finalist for The Booker Prize.
Set in 1861 along the Mississippi River, the story follows Jim as he learns he is about to be sold to a new owner in New Orleans, which would separate him from his wife and daughter forever. Jim hides on Jackson’s Island to formulate a plan, coincidentally at the same time Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, beginning their dangerous journey north on a raft.
The novel is described as “scorchingly plotted, unexpectedly comical, witheringly observed, and ingeniously inventive,” while also being “absolutely heartbreaking, populated by unforgettable characters realized in incredible dimensionality.”
Everett currently serves as a distinguished professor of English at USC, with numerous acclaimed works including “Dr. No,” “The Trees,” “Telephone,” “So Much Blue,” “Erasure,” and “I Am Not Sidney Poitier.”
His “Dr. No” was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Award for Fiction and winner of the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award. “The Trees” was a finalist for both the Booker Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and “Telephone” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
His achievements include receiving the NBCC Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award and The Windham Campbell Prize from Yale University. “American Fiction,” based on his novel “Erasure,” won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Everett lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the writer Danzy Senna, and their children.
Pasadena Public Library’s One City, One Story program is sponsored by The Friends of the Pasadena Public Library and Pasadena Literary Alliance – Pasadena Festival of Women Authors.
For more information, visit http://CityOfPasadena.
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