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

Celebrated author and Distinguished Professor of English earns one of the literary world’s top honors for his reimagining of a classic American tale.

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.

2024 Faculty Handbook

Dear Colleagues, 

The policy changes recommended by the Academic Senate for the Faculty Handbook’s 2024 edition have been approved by President Folt and the new Handbook is being posted at policy.usc.edu. The Senate is the representative body of our faculty; its officers and executive board are elected by the faculty-at-large from among the whole faculty and the other Senate members are elected by your school faculty councils.

The major changes in this Handbook edition respond to faculty suggestions you brought to the Senate that focused on three areas. First, there is an expanded charter for faculty councils, stating more explicitly the vision and expectations of shared governance on the school level. Second, the Handbook now explains how investigations are conducted and how sanctions and appeals are handled by a faculty committee. Minor cases can be addressed collegially without triggering a full-blown formal investigation. An advisor can sit in when a respondent is interviewed about interpersonal misconduct charges. And there’s an emphasis that investigations be completed in a timely fashion. Third, there is enhanced explanation of how your faculty rights established in the Handbook are protected through faculty committees. These changes and other amendments are summarized in Chapter 1 for your convenience.

In her introduction to the Handbook, President Folt emphasizes some vital points:

  • Academic freedom is an indispensable element of seeking excellence and it remains enshrined in the Handbook. 
  • Shared governance is essential to our collegial functioning, and faculty are partners in the collaborative responsibilities of managing our academic enterprise.  
  • The Senate has been strengthened in recent years through ensuring the right of all our faculty, of every track, full-time, part-time and adjunct, to vote to elect the Senate’s officers and executive board, to hold those positions, and to serve on all its committees.

The Handbook reaffirms that faculty can at any time suggest improvements to USC’s practices or policies to the Academic Senate or the Office of the Provost. Hearing from you is the best way to know where we can do better, so please keep your suggestions coming.

Sincerely,

Andrew T. Guzman
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Rima Jubran
Academic Senate President