Gregory E. Rutledge, J.D./M.A.M.C., Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the department of English and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, USA. He is the author of The Epic Trickster in American Literature (2013). He specializes in African-American literature. His research focus has been on race and epic performance; drawing on epic performance as a universal cultural genre, he examines literature and storytelling through this framework.