“E” is for Everett, Percival [b. 1956]. Everett grew up in Columbia. He drew on his experiences as a young African American growing up in Columbia in his first novel, Suder. The critical success of Suder led to teaching appointments at Kentucky, Notre Dame, and, the University of Southern California. Though some of his fiction draws at least partly on Southern origins and themes, Everett’s creative work is more generally focused on the American West--or more imagined settings. With Ralph Ellison, he shares an abiding interest in European and African myth, as well as a staunch refusal to limit African American fiction to mere “protest writing.” In addition to his writing and teaching, Percival Everett has long served as editor of the distinguished literary journal Callaloo, which publishes critical studies of and original works by black writers from around the world.
