Percival Everett’s novel James won in its category at the Kirkus Award 2024 on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.
Kirkus Reviews is a US book review magazine that publishes previews of books prior to their publication founded by Virginia Kirkus in 1933. The Kirkus Prize was created to celebrate the years of criticism that Kirkus Reviews had contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. It is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature.
Lesley Nneka Arimah won in the fiction category while Brian Broome won in nonfiction in 2021. 2019 was a truly Black year at Kirkus as Colson Whitehead won in the fiction category, Saeed Jones took the honours in the nonfiction category and Jerry Craft was recognised in the Young Adult Category. In 2020, Raven Leilani, Mychal Denzel Smith, Gordon C. James and Derrick Barnes won in their categories.
The fiction jurors for this year’s prize were Loyalty Bookstores co-owner Christine Bollow, Kirkus reviewer Jeffrey Burke, and Kirkus fiction editor Laurie Muchnick. Everett took home the fiction prize for James, his retelling of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from the point of view of the enslaved man Jim. In a citation, the prize jurors called the novel, which is also a finalist for the National Book Award and the Booker Prize, “enthralling” and “a necessary companion to Twain’s masterpiece.”
Percival Everett’s award was received on his behalf by Doubleday’s Bill Thomas who read his remarks which stated, “thank you for this award and more importantly for being considered with these wonderful works. Thanks to my dear friend and agent Melanie Jackson and my wonderful editor Lee Boudreaux and all the folks at Double Day. And as always, thanks to my wife Danzy Senna. Without her, there would be no books.”
The winners receive a trophy created by the London design team of Vezzini & Chen, as well as a $50,000 cash award, making the Kirkus Prize one of the richest annual literary awards in the world.
Watch the Kirkus Award ceremony below;
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