Percival Everett is the author of more than twenty novels, three collections of short fiction, and two volumes of poetry.  His novels include, most recently, Percival Everett by Virgil Russell,Assumption, I Am Not Sidney Poitier, and The Water Cure.  He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the PEN Center USA Award for Fiction, the Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, among others.  He has been described as a lyrical writer whose “stark and sometimes powerful prose” leaves a lasting impression.  Everett is currently Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.  He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons.