Percival Everett: The 2026 Esmond Harmsworth Lecture in American Arts and Letters

Where does meaning reside in fiction? How is it constructed when the context itself is propositional? How does a culture read and understand when the driving push toward fiction is fueled by voyeurism?

In this lecture, Percival Everett will argue that an ability to read fiction and extrapolate to further meaning is crucial to a culture’s ability to reason soundly and to employ empathy.

The Rothermere American Institute is honoured to present Percival Everett as the speaker for the 2026 Esmond Harmsworth Lecture in American Arts and Letters. A Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner, Everett is one of the most daring, inventive and provocative voices in contemporary American fiction. His most recent novel, James, reimagines Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by recasting the story from Jim’s perspective. The novel won the 2024 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2025 Pulitzer Prize. A film adaptation is currently in development under the auspices of Steven Spielberg.

The Esmond Harmsworth Lecture in American Arts and Letters has a long tradition of hosting America’s leading novelists, poets and critics. Past speakers include Natasha Trethewey, Maggie Nelson, Michael Chabon, Joyce Carol Oates and Marilynne Robinson.

Part of Unfinished Revolutions, a season tracing the living legacy of 1776.