Sold-Out Event with Author Percival Everett Moved to Larger Venue

Press release

The Mark Twain House & Museum's Literary Event Featuring Percival Everett Moves to Immanuel Congregational Church Due to Overwhelming Demand

Free Trouble Begins Conversation Series with James Author Percival Everett to Be Held on June 5

Hartford, CT…The Mark Twain House & Museum (MTH&M) is thrilled to announce that their free upcoming Trouble Begins lecture series event featuring Pulitzer Prize finalist Percival Everett on his latest novel James has been moved to a larger location due to unprecedented demand. After the initial announcement, the discussion featuring the acclaimed author with journalist and cultural critic Michael Harriot sold out in less than two days! To accommodate the overwhelming interest from the community, the event will take place on the same day – Wednesday, June 5 at 7:00 p.m. – but now at Immanuel Congregational Church located at 10 Woodland Street, Hartford, CT.

About James

When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

While many narrative set pieces of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin…), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

The Chicago Tribune calls James, “A masterpiece that will help redefine one of the classics of American literature, while also being a major achievement on its own.”

About Percival Everett

Percival Everett is a Distinguished Professor of English at USC. His most recent books include Dr. No (finalist for the NBCC Award for Fiction and winner of the PEN/ Jean Stein Book Award), The Trees (finalist for the Booker Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction), Telephone (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), So Much Blue, Erasure, and I Am Not Sidney Poitier. He has received the NBCC Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award and The Windham Campbell Prize from Yale University. American Fiction, the feature film based on his novel Erasure, was released in 2023 and was awarded the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

"We are truly humbled by the tremendous response to this event," said Michael L. Campbell, interim executive director at The Mark Twain House & Museum. “It's a testament to Percival Everett's outstanding work and the enthusiasm behind Mark Twain's enduring legacy. We're excited to provide this unique opportunity for engagement and critical discourse."

About the Trouble Begins series

The Mark Twain House & Museum began its The Trouble Begins lecture series in 2010. The title of the series comes from the handbill advertising Mark Twain's October 2, 1866 lecture presented at Maguire's Academy of Music in San Francisco, which stated, "Doors open at 7 o'clock. The Trouble to begin at 8 o'clock."

The Trouble Begins lecture series is held each spring and fall with free presentations featuring distinguished scholars who discuss elements of the life, work, and era of Mark Twain and use them to explore wider themes in the humanities and both historical and current issues.

This special Trouble Begins presentation is made possible by Kathleen and David Jimenez's generous sponsorship. Their support allows the museum to expand accessibility to history, education, and Twain's legacy through the presentation of renowned authors, educators, and historians.

Registrants that already purchased admission will have their tickets honored at the Immanuel Congregational Church. Mark Twain House & Museum members will enjoy exclusive access to a member presale beginning on Thursday, May 2, at 10:00 a.m. To become a member, please visit MarkTwainHouse.org/membership/. You will receive log-in information to access the member presale. The general public will have access to admission starting on Monday, May 6, at 10:00 a.m. ET. For further event details and registration for the Trouble Begins with James with author Percival Everett in conversation with Michael Harriot, please visit marktwainhouse.org.

Prior to the lecture, attendees are invited to a Pasta Reception catered by Salute Restaurant at 5:00 p.m. at The Mark Twain House & Museum on 351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford. Food is first-come/first-served. Guests can park at MTH&M for the reception and then walk across the street to Immanuel Congregational Church.