University of Wisconsin’s annual Go Big Read keynote event was held in Union South on Tuesday, celebrating author Percival Everett and his novel “James.”
The novel follows the titular character in a retelling of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and is this year’s Go Big Read novel and the recipient of many awards, including the National Book Award for fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
According to the Go Big Read website, the program was initiated by previous UW Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin and hopes to engage UW’s community and beyond with a shared reading experience. Every year, a book is picked as the campus’ Go Big Read work, with multiple events following.
The keynote event this year was hosted by Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and was open to the public. The event reached maximum seating capacity at least ten minutes before the conversation began.
During the conversation, Everett discussed how writing was encouraged growing up but was not something he pursued until later in his life. The inspiration for “James” was fairly mundane, he said, as it struck him while playing tennis. The initial question that generated the story was whether someone had tried a retelling of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in the past.
While Everett said he appreciated Twain’s writing style, he always felt disappointed by the original novel — Twain took a significant break while composing the story, which in Everett’s mind diminished the quality of the writing and shifted the narrative’s focus away from the moral dilemmas of slavery. Despite his criticisms, Everett believed he was entering a conversation with Twain rather than attempting to mend his story.
“It was never a corrective,” Everett said.
An essential theme of “James” is the use of language, both in terms of literacy and in the spoken form. James learns how to read and write to enhance his understanding of the world and frequently switches dialects to protect himself from slaveowners. While the way James speaks in the novel — in modern English — is not entirely realistic, Everett said, depicting him and other slaves speaking in such a manner adds to their humanity and explores how slaves found ways to communicate with one another privately and without the intrusion of slaveowners.
Everett may not know how slaves spoke to one another exactly, but according to him, they were able to talk about complex and complicated issues because they were human. Everett also argued that performance — such as the act James puts on around slaveowners — is a power in of itself.
In regards to his writing process, Everett said he does not follow a set formula for his works and that his writing process is best defined by its undisciplined nature. He also denied the relevance or even existence of writer’s block, believing that authors can always put something on the page.
Everett, who teaches writing at the University of Southern California, offered advice for aspiring authors. He said writing should be a passion first and foremost, but also balanced by other work that can support authors and their families financially.
“You have to do it because you love it,” Everett said.
Lastly, Everett and Mnookin discussed the ongoing political challenges that authors and educators face. Everett expressed his emphatic support for educators and librarians, and believed attacks on education are perhaps the most dangerous to a democracy.
Despite his concerns, Everett made it clear that he holds hope for the future and believes that the U.S. will move past its current period. In the meantime, Everett suggested that the audience do what James — and certainly many others oppressed by injustice — did.
“Reading is the most subversive thing you can do,” Everett said.
