Jamaica Kincaid
Jamaica Kincaid (born May 25, 1949, as Elaine Cynthia Potter Richardson) is a Caribbean novelist, gardener, and gardening writer. She was born in the city of St. John's on the island of Antigua in the nation of Antigua and Barbuda. She lives with her family in North Bennington, Vermont, during the summers and teaches at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, during the academic year.[1]
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[edit] Writing career
Kincaid's short fiction has appeared in The Paris Review and The New Yorker, where her novel Lucy was originally serialized.[2] Her first book, At the Bottom of the River (1983), was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.[3] She has received the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, the Prix Femina Étranger, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Award.[4]
Her novels are loosely autobiographical, though Kincaid has warned against interpreting their autobiographical elements too literally: "Everything I say is true, and everything I say is not true. You couldn't admit any of it to a court of law. It would not be good evidence."[5] Her work often prioritizes "impressions and feelings over plot development"[6] and often features conflict with both a strong maternal figure and colonial and neocolonial influences.[7]
[edit] Family
She has a son, Harold (music producer/songwriter Levelsoundz), and a daughter, Annie, with her ex-husband, the composer Allen Shawn (son of The New Yorker's longtime editor William Shawn and brother of actor Wallace Shawn).[8]
[edit] Religion
Kincaid is a convert to Judaism.[9]
[edit] Works
- Girl short story (June 26, 1978, appeared in The New Yorker then again in 1984 in At the Bottom of the River)
- At the Bottom of the River (1984)
- Annie John (1985)
- A Small Place (1988)
- Annie, Gwen, Lilly, Pam, and Tulip (1989)
- Lucy (1990)
- Biography of a Dress (1990)
- "On Seeing England for the First Time," essay (1991, published in Transition Magazine)
- The Autobiography of My Mother (1995)
- My Brother (1997)
- My Favorite Plant: Writers and Gardeners on the Plants they Love (editor; 1998)
- My Garden (1999)
- Talk Stories (2001)
- My Garden (2001)
- Mr.Potter (2002)
- Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalayas (2005)
- Figures in the Distance
- Life and Debt Film (2001)
[edit] Awards
- President of the Levelsoundz fan club (the official fan club for her son Harold "Levelsoundz" Shawn)
- Honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, Tufts University (2011)
[edit] References
- ^ http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/kincaidJamaica.php
- ^ http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2502
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Cassidy, Thomas. "Jamaica Kincaid." Critical Survey of Long Fiction. Literary Resource Center. Web.
- ^ http://www.missourireview.org/content/dynamic/view_text.php?text_id=1947
- ^ Cassidy.
- ^ "Jamaica Kincaid." Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Fiction. Literary Resource Center. Web.
- ^ http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/kincaidJamaica.php
- ^ Donna Halper. "Black Jews: A Minority Within a Minority". Ujc.org. http://www.ujc.org/page.aspx?id=26506. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
[edit] Other references
- Jamaica Kincaid: A Bibliography of Dissertations and Theses, ISBN 978-1-45367749-0.
[edit] External links
- 1949 births
- Living people
- African American writers
- American garden writers
- American novelists
- American women writers
- Antigua and Barbuda women writers
- Antigua and Barbuda emigrants to the United States
- Jews in the African diaspora
- Caribbean women writers
- Claremont McKenna College faculty
- Converts to Judaism
- Franconia College alumni
- Harvard University staff
- Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
- People from Bennington, Vermont
- The New Yorker people
- Wesleyan University people
- Writers from New York City
- Writers from Vermont
- Prix Femina Étranger winners
- Jewish American novelists
