PEN AMERICA: In Conversation with Adam Nelson Author of Huckleberry Jim During Banned Books Week 2026
PEN America features author Adam Nelson in The PEN Ten, an interview exploring his debut novel, Huckleberry Jim, the enduring influence of Mark Twain, the responsibility of the writer, and the relationship between literature, history, and freedom of expression.
At heart, Huckleberry Jim is a two-hander. Set in 1991, the novel follows a twenty-two-year-old white actor and a fifty-five-year-old Black actor touring a production of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through American schools. As the two men travel together, the tensions of Twain's nineteenth-century masterpiece collide with the racial and cultural conflicts of the twentieth century.
Inspired by Nelson's own experiences performing Huckleberry Finn for schoolchildren in 1991, the novel took five and a half years to complete and was published October 6, 2026, during Banned Books Week.
A Publishers Weekly BookLife Editor's Pick, Huckleberry Jim was also named a 2026 William Faulkner–William Wisdom Novel Semifinalist and longlisted for The Masters Review Novel Excerpt Prize.
Thank you to PEN America for featuring Nelson in The PEN Ten and for its longstanding commitment to defending writers and freedom of expression.
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW:
https://pen.org/adam-nelson-the-pen-ten-interview/
Huckleberry Jim is available now in hardcover, paperback, and ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and independent bookstores nationwide. Audiobook published by Blackstone Publishing.
#PENAmerica #ThePENTen #HuckleberryJim #AdamNelson #BannedBooksWeek
At heart, Huckleberry Jim is a two-hander. Set in 1991, the novel follows a twenty-two-year-old white actor and a fifty-five-year-old Black actor touring a production of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through American schools. As the two men travel together, the tensions of Twain's nineteenth-century masterpiece collide with the racial and cultural conflicts of the twentieth century.
Inspired by Nelson's own experiences performing Huckleberry Finn for schoolchildren in 1991, the novel took five and a half years to complete and was published October 6, 2026, during Banned Books Week.
A Publishers Weekly BookLife Editor's Pick, Huckleberry Jim was also named a 2026 William Faulkner–William Wisdom Novel Semifinalist and longlisted for The Masters Review Novel Excerpt Prize.
Thank you to PEN America for featuring Nelson in The PEN Ten and for its longstanding commitment to defending writers and freedom of expression.
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW:
https://pen.org/adam-nelson-the-pen-ten-interview/
Huckleberry Jim is available now in hardcover, paperback, and ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and independent bookstores nationwide. Audiobook published by Blackstone Publishing.
#PENAmerica #ThePENTen #HuckleberryJim #AdamNelson #BannedBooksWeek
ADAM NELSON JOINS EVERYLIBRARY LIVE! FOR BANNED BOOKS WEEK 2026
As Huckleberry Jim approaches publication on October 6, author Adam Nelson will join John Chrastka, founder and Executive Director of EveryLibrary, for a special EveryLibrary Live! Banned Books Week 2026 conversation examining books, readers, censorship and the freedom to read.
It is an especially fitting conversation for Huckleberry Jim. Set in 1991 and inspired by Nelson’s own experience touring a two-man production of Huckleberry Finn to schoolchildren, the novel places Twain’s most contested work inside another American moment of argument over race, language, censorship and what young people should be allowed to encounter.
The conversation will go beyond individual book challenges to larger questions: What do we lose when books become something people are encouraged to fear rather than explore? What happens when writers begin anticipating censorship before a book is even published? And what kind of culture around books and reading are we creating for the next generation?
Chrastka brings a remarkable perspective to that discussion. In addition to founding EveryLibrary, he is a longtime library trustee and advocate, a former Director for Membership Development at the American Library Association, and was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker.
EveryLibrary’s complete Banned Books Week 2026 programming can be found here:
https://www.everylibrary.org/bannedbooksweek2026
Huckleberry Jim publishes October 6, 2026, during Banned Books Week.
It is an especially fitting conversation for Huckleberry Jim. Set in 1991 and inspired by Nelson’s own experience touring a two-man production of Huckleberry Finn to schoolchildren, the novel places Twain’s most contested work inside another American moment of argument over race, language, censorship and what young people should be allowed to encounter.
The conversation will go beyond individual book challenges to larger questions: What do we lose when books become something people are encouraged to fear rather than explore? What happens when writers begin anticipating censorship before a book is even published? And what kind of culture around books and reading are we creating for the next generation?
Chrastka brings a remarkable perspective to that discussion. In addition to founding EveryLibrary, he is a longtime library trustee and advocate, a former Director for Membership Development at the American Library Association, and was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker.
EveryLibrary’s complete Banned Books Week 2026 programming can be found here:
https://www.everylibrary.org/bannedbooksweek2026
Huckleberry Jim publishes October 6, 2026, during Banned Books Week.
DEBORAH KALB Q&A WITH ADAM NELSON
BANNED BOOKS WEEK 2026
The American Argument Continues in this Q&A between Deborah Kalb & Adam Nelson
One day after the publication of Huckleberry Jim , Adam Nelson talks with author and journalist Deborah Kalb about the novel’s origins, returning to 1991, the long shadow of Mark Twain, and writing about race, censorship and an America still wrestling with many of the same questions.
The conversation also looks at the real-life experience that inspired the novel, the five-and-a-half-year journey from first draft to publication, and why Huckleberry Jim arrived during Banned Books Week.
Thank you to Deborah Kalb for the thoughtful conversation.
Read the full interview here
Huckleberry Jim is available now in all formats via Bookshop Barnes & Noble Amazon.com and fine bookstores everywhere. Audiobook by Blackstone Publishing
One day after the publication of Huckleberry Jim , Adam Nelson talks with author and journalist Deborah Kalb about the novel’s origins, returning to 1991, the long shadow of Mark Twain, and writing about race, censorship and an America still wrestling with many of the same questions.
The conversation also looks at the real-life experience that inspired the novel, the five-and-a-half-year journey from first draft to publication, and why Huckleberry Jim arrived during Banned Books Week.
Thank you to Deborah Kalb for the thoughtful conversation.
Read the full interview here
Huckleberry Jim is available now in all formats via Bookshop Barnes & Noble Amazon.com and fine bookstores everywhere. Audiobook by Blackstone Publishing
BOOKLIFE / PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY REVIEW
"Nelson's incisive, provocative, and robustly American debut"
"Nelson honors the fathoms-deep American divisions that Twain marked and urges us to look closer rather than away."
"Smart, incisive road-trip through Twain's classic and 1991 America."
"Capturing the spirit of Twain, social commentary marks every page with a steady stream of cleverly worded aphorisms and elegant analogies."
"Nelson, an actor himself, so deftly depicts Axel's inner emotional rollercoaster, the hardships of a thespian's daily life, and the physical realm they inhabit."
"Twain fans and anyone who, when young, felt the world expand thanks to touring theater troupes, will recognize and love scenes set in the classroom."
"Its debates about bigotry match today's: the use of racial slurs in art, pervasive antisemitism, and ignorance as a denial tactic."
"Huckleberry Jim feels especially well-timed—but, sadly, wouldn't it always?"
"Nelson honors the fathoms-deep American divisions that Twain marked and urges us to look closer rather than away."
"Smart, incisive road-trip through Twain's classic and 1991 America."
"Capturing the spirit of Twain, social commentary marks every page with a steady stream of cleverly worded aphorisms and elegant analogies."
"Nelson, an actor himself, so deftly depicts Axel's inner emotional rollercoaster, the hardships of a thespian's daily life, and the physical realm they inhabit."
"Twain fans and anyone who, when young, felt the world expand thanks to touring theater troupes, will recognize and love scenes set in the classroom."
"Its debates about bigotry match today's: the use of racial slurs in art, pervasive antisemitism, and ignorance as a denial tactic."
"Huckleberry Jim feels especially well-timed—but, sadly, wouldn't it always?"
BLUEINK REVIEWS
"At the story's core is an interesting and convincing relationship. Nelson is adept at character development: Axel in particular, but also Moses, whose outward personality belies an inner nuance. And his prose is capable: 'She had entered his life the way lightning enters a tree—sudden, burning, reshaping everything it touched.'... At its best it's a revealing evolution of an improbable relationship.”
CLARION REVIEWS
"A blunt historical novel about the power—and limitations—of the arts to educate, connect, effect change, or create an escape."
“The mishaps and challenges of performing for young children, including unexpected audience participation, are entertaining and grounding.”
“A thorny discussion about book censorship and whether the instructive and well-intentioned aspects of Huckleberry Finn are enough to overcome its more offensive elements is a discomfiting highlight.”
“The mishaps and challenges of performing for young children, including unexpected audience participation, are entertaining and grounding.”
“A thorny discussion about book censorship and whether the instructive and well-intentioned aspects of Huckleberry Finn are enough to overcome its more offensive elements is a discomfiting highlight.”
Blackstone Publishing to Release Audiobook of Huckleberry Jim During Banned Books WeeK — Publishers Weekly Booklife Editor's Pick (August, 2026)
WILLIAM FAULKNER- WILLIAM WISDOM
NOVEL COMPETITION
Adam Nelson's "Huckleberry Jim" Named Semi-Finalist in 2026 William-Faulkner-William Wisdom Novel Competition (Oct, 2026)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
150 Years After Tom Sawyer, Adam Nelson's "Huckleberry Jim" Launches Where Twain's America Began (Sept, 2026)
BOOKLIFE PRIZE - 2026
Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10
Originality: 9 out of 10
Prose: 8 out of 10
Character/Execution: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8.25 out of 10
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Huckleberry Jim follows Axel Emerson and Moses Morton as they tour 1991 America in a theatrical rendition of Huckleberry Finn. Running from the law, Axel eagerly takes on the role of Huck Finn and stars across Moses's Jim, in a two man play that exposes racial divides and oppression still widely relevant to today's audiences. The pair's banter during their tour is witty and biting, and the story is emotional, funny, and compelling.
Prose: It's not an easy feat to write a contemporary adaptation of a classic piece of literature, but Nelson has the chops to do it. He captures Axel and Moses' voices in a way that feels authentic and realistic, and the writing does the story's concept justice.
Originality: Though Huckleberry Jim carries shadows of previous works, it possesses many qualities that set it apart. Its two perspectives are powerfully wrought, offering a historical view of the novel's issues in both the '90s and at the time the original Huckleberry Finn was composed. Readers will quickly grasp that not much has changed through the years, with injustice, stereotypes, and racial inequities still running rampant in the United States.
Character/Execution: From the classic structure of a play within a play, readers get to know both characters through their actions and performances on and off the stage. Moses's inner rage at the treatment he receives often boils over onto Axel, leaving the alliance between the two uneasy at best, but both characters are easy to empathize with: flawed, human, and seeking ways to expose the divides of a country that calls itself free.
Originality: 9 out of 10
Prose: 8 out of 10
Character/Execution: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8.25 out of 10
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Huckleberry Jim follows Axel Emerson and Moses Morton as they tour 1991 America in a theatrical rendition of Huckleberry Finn. Running from the law, Axel eagerly takes on the role of Huck Finn and stars across Moses's Jim, in a two man play that exposes racial divides and oppression still widely relevant to today's audiences. The pair's banter during their tour is witty and biting, and the story is emotional, funny, and compelling.
Prose: It's not an easy feat to write a contemporary adaptation of a classic piece of literature, but Nelson has the chops to do it. He captures Axel and Moses' voices in a way that feels authentic and realistic, and the writing does the story's concept justice.
Originality: Though Huckleberry Jim carries shadows of previous works, it possesses many qualities that set it apart. Its two perspectives are powerfully wrought, offering a historical view of the novel's issues in both the '90s and at the time the original Huckleberry Finn was composed. Readers will quickly grasp that not much has changed through the years, with injustice, stereotypes, and racial inequities still running rampant in the United States.
Character/Execution: From the classic structure of a play within a play, readers get to know both characters through their actions and performances on and off the stage. Moses's inner rage at the treatment he receives often boils over onto Axel, leaving the alliance between the two uneasy at best, but both characters are easy to empathize with: flawed, human, and seeking ways to expose the divides of a country that calls itself free.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Village Voice: The Word We Won't Say and the Country We Won't See (May, 2026)
PURCHASE
Hardcover — $28.00 — ISBN 9798996345038
Paperback — $18.99 — ISBN 9798996345007
Ebook — $11.99 — ISBN 9798996345014
Audiobook — Library CD, MP3, CD — ISBN 9798236008976 (Blackstone Publishing)
Paperback — $18.99 — ISBN 9798996345007
Ebook — $11.99 — ISBN 9798996345014
Audiobook — Library CD, MP3, CD — ISBN 9798236008976 (Blackstone Publishing)
Huckleberry Jim publishes on 6 October 2026 — during Banned Books Week, in the year of America's Semiquincentennial, and the 150th anniversary of Tom Sawyer. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remains one of the most-challenged books in American history, and the novel is a natural fit for October display tables, staff picks, and any Banned Books Week, America 250, or Twain-anniversary programming. Pre-orders are available at fine bookstores everywhere including Abe Books, Books Are Magic, Book People, Chevalier's Books, Chirp, Community Bookstore, Corrections Book Store, Elliott Bay Book Company, Greenlight Bookstore, Google Books, Hoopla, Libro.fm, Malaprop's, Parnassus Books, Politics and Prose, Powells, The Nile, Walmart, Waterstones, World of Books, and Square Books, Target, Tertulia, and overseas Foyles, Readings to name a few.
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