Pulitzer 2025 for a subversive literary gem. It has just been published in Polish

This is a novel that cuts sharper than a bayonet and rewrites itself in the reader's memory long after the last page. "James" by Percival Everett has just hit Polish bookstores - and has immediately gained the status of required reading.

This year's Pulitzer Prize for Literature went to Percival Everett , an American author whose pen has for years been moving on the margins of dominant narratives. "James," his 24th novel, is a work that simply sparks with literary courage and political sense. It was published in Poland only a few weeks ago by Marginesy , and it is already generating heated discussions.

Percival Everett/photo PAP photo

Everett reaches for Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" to rewrite it—this time from the perspective of Jim, an enslaved man who in the original was merely a backdrop for the adventures of a young white boy. In "James," Jim gains a full voice, body, and mind. He becomes the narrator and the hero, a man fighting for freedom, dignity, and family. Everett strips the classic to its bones and builds it anew—sharper, truer, and painfully relevant.

Everett, known for his aversion to awards, accepted the Pulitzer with a hint of defiance. The Washington Post quotes his ironic words: "They put my reputation on the line." Earlier, in an interview with the New Yorker, he said directly that he considers literary awards to be "insulting" and "harmful comparisons of works of art." And yet it was he, ignored by the biggest jury for years, who took home the full podium: in addition to the Pulitzer, "James" was a finalist for the Booker, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and also won the prestigious National Book Award.

It is a kind of literary "late bloomer moment" — an explosion of recognition for an author who consistently followed his own path. Critics have long called Everett one of the most original voices in contemporary American prose. Today, no one can pass by his name with indifference.

"James" is more than a reinterpretation. It is an intervention into the very heart of American (and other) literary consciousness. As Ron Charles wrote in the Post, the timing of this book's publication could not have been more significant.

“Our (barely) United States is once again falling apart over which books should be banned and how black American history should be taught. What better time for one of the nation’s leading writers to reinterpret the most important American novel? ” Charles asked rhetorically.

This question sounds equally resonant in Poland. In a time of struggle for memory, identity and narrative, "James" offers something more than a story - it provides a tool for understanding. It is literature as an act of resistance.

If you were to reach for one American novel this year, let it be "James." It is a book that reads like a moral thriller and leaves a mark like fingers in fresh cement. Before our eyes, history turns into myth, and myth into a tool for settling accounts with the past.