For author Percival Everett, libraries have always been a place of knowledge, exploration, and even a bit of forbidden enjoyment. He recalls befriending the librarian at the University of South Carolina at the age of 13, who allowed him to explore the library’s stacks, even when he wasn’t supposed to. Everett fondly remembers the unique experience libraries offer: when searching for one book, you inevitably encounter others that may be unrelated, which he believes is something digital links can’t replicate.
In recognition of his work, Everett recently received the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction for his novel James. The award, announced by the American Library Association, comes with a $5,000 cash prize. Kevin Fedarko’s nonfiction book A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon also earned recognition.
Percival Everett’s acclaimed novel, which reimagines Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the viewpoint of Jim, Huck’s enslaved companion, has earned significant recognition, including the National Book Award and the Kirkus Prize. It is also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His latest book, James, has even reached the top of The New York Times fiction hardcover list, an impressive achievement for a literary work that wasn’t part of a major book club selection or a movie adaptation tie-in.
Allison Escoto, chair of the award’s selection committee, praised Everett’s writing as a “modern masterpiece,” calling James a beautiful and important work that offers a fresh perspective through the eyes of a classic character. As for A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko, she commended the book for highlighting both the triumphs and challenges of exploration and offering valuable lessons about our natural world.
Fedarko, a former Time magazine correspondent whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Esquire, has a deep connection with libraries, particularly Carnegie libraries. He recalls visiting two such libraries as a child, including one near his parents’ hair salon in Oakmont, where he would read biographies of historical figures like George Washington and Daniel Boone. For Fedarko, libraries have always been essential, providing windows to a broader world.
Now living in Flagstaff, Arizona, Kevin Fedarko credits the library at Northern Arizona University for playing a crucial role in the creation of both his books, A Walk in the Park and its predecessor, The Emerald Mile, which explores the Grand Canyon. Fedarko explains that the library’s unique collection on the Grand Canyon provided essential historical context, forming the foundation for the research and narratives in both works. He acknowledges that neither book would have been possible without the resources the library offered.
Since its establishment in 2012, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction has honored authors such as Donna Tartt for The Goldfinch, Colson Whitehead for The Underground Railroad, and Doris Kearns Goodwin for The Bully Pulpit, among others. The medal, funded by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, recognizes outstanding works in both fiction and nonfiction.
This year, the finalists in the fiction category alongside James were Jiaming Tang’s Cinema Love and Kavin Akbar’s Martyr!.
In the nonfiction category, the runners-up were Adam Higginbotham’s Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space and Emily Nussbaum’s Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV.
All three fiction finalists were published by Penguin Random House, while the nonfiction finalists were released by Simon & Schuster.