New York Times bestselling author Percival Everett challenged traditional narratives around slavery and the ever-more important cultural role of reading at Thursday’s Weaver Memorial Lecture.
Everett’s novel “James,” which reimagines “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain from the perspective of Huck’s enslaved friend Jim, was awarded the National Book Award for Fiction in 2024 and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2025. The novel was selected as the Duke Common Experience reading for summer 2025.
“This book is everywhere. Everyone’s talking about it,” said Deborah Rutter, vice provost for the arts, who moderated the conversation…