One of the nation’s hottest authors -- Percival Everett, author of “James,” the 2024 National Book Award for Fiction -- will give a keynote lecture open to the community, courtesy of the University of Missouri-Kansas City in partnership with the Carolyn Benton Cockefair Chair and the Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City.

The free lecture will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at the UMKC Student Union, room 401. Guests must RSVP to reserve a seat.

Everett is a distinguished professor of English at the University of Southern California and is known for his award-winning novels. His most recent book, “James,” a New York Times bestseller is a loosely based re-imagining of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of the character of Jim, a slave who escaped. The beginning of “James” is lighthearted and follows Huckleberry Finn, but as they part ways, the tone of the novel turns more serious as Jim goes off on his own journey.

“James” received widespread critical acclaim: the novel also won the 2024 Kirkus Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2024.

Everett has written in many different genres, and his books are often thought-provoking and satirical at the same time. His novel, “Erasure,” provided the foundation for the 2023 film “American Fiction.” The film received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

UMKC brings in speakers of national stature each year as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture Series. In 2024, the university hosted Academy Award winner Kevin Willmott, a noted filmmaker whose play “Becoming Martin” is about the early life of King.

The Cockefair Chair at UMKC presents an acclaimed lecture series and popular continuing education courses. For 60 years, Cockefair programs have engaged Kansas Citians for more than 60 years. The Cockefair Chair also partners with regional civic organizations including the Black Archives of Mid-America to bring in high-caliber speakers like Everett.