Jamaica Kincaid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jamaica Kincaid
|
|
|---|---|
Kincaid in September 2019
|
|
| Born | Elaine Cynthia Potter Richardson May 25, 1949 St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda |
| Nationality |
|
| Education | Franconia College (no degree) |
| Genre | Fiction, memoir, essays |
| Notable works |
|
| Notable awards | American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2004 |
| Spouse |
Allen Shawn
(m. 1979; div. 2002) |
| Children | 2 |
Jamaica Kincaid (born Elaine Cynthia Potter Richardson on May 25, 1949) is a famous writer. She is a novelist, essayist, and gardening writer. She was born in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, which is the capital of Antigua and Barbuda. Today, she lives in North Bennington, Vermont, in the United States. She used to be a professor at Harvard University.
Contents
About Jamaica Kincaid's Life
Jamaica Kincaid was born in St. John's, Antigua, on May 25, 1949. She grew up with her mother and stepfather. Her mother was a homemaker who loved to read. Kincaid was very close to her mother.
Things changed when her three younger brothers were born. Kincaid was nine years old when the first brother arrived. She felt her mother focused more on her brothers. Kincaid later said that family resources became tighter. She felt she received less emotional attention.
Kincaid received a British education. Antigua was a British colony until 1981. She was a very smart student and often did well in her classes. When she was 16, her mother took her out of school. This was to help support the family. Her stepfather was ill and could not work.
In 1966, at age 17, Kincaid moved to Scarsdale, New York. This was a wealthy area near New York City. She worked there as an au pair, which is like a nanny. After moving, she stopped sending money home. She did not contact her family for 20 years.
Her Family Life
In 1979, Kincaid married Allen Shawn. He is a composer and a professor. They had two children together. Their son, Harold, is a music producer. Their daughter, Annie, works in marketing. Kincaid and Shawn divorced in 2002.
Jamaica Kincaid loves gardening. She has written many books about it. In 2005, she became a follower of Judaism.
How She Became a Writer
While working as an au pair, Kincaid took evening classes. She later received a scholarship to Franconia College. She left college after a year. Then she moved back to New York. She started writing for magazines like Ingénue and Ms..
She changed her name to Jamaica Kincaid in 1973. This was when her first writings were published. She said the name change helped her feel free to write. "Jamaica" comes from the name Christopher Columbus used for her home region. "Kincaid" just sounded good with it.
Her short stories appeared in The Paris Review. She also wrote for The New Yorker magazine. Her 1990 novel Lucy was first published in parts there.
Kincaid's writing often uses her own life experiences. Some people have said her writing sounds angry. But Kincaid explains that many writers use their own lives. She believes it is not fair to criticize her for this.
Working at The New Yorker
Jamaica Kincaid became friends with George W. S. Trow. He was a writer for The New Yorker magazine. Through him, she met the magazine's editor, William Shawn. Shawn was very impressed with her writing.
He hired her as a staff writer in 1976. She wrote for the "Talk of the Town" column for nine years. Shawn helped her develop her unique writing voice. She worked for The New Yorker for 20 years in total.
She left the magazine in 1996. This was because the new editor, Tina Brown, made changes. Kincaid felt the magazine became less focused on literature. It started to focus more on celebrities.
Kincaid remembers that people often asked her how she got her job. She felt it was because she was a young Black woman. She came from a poor background. She had no college degree. Yet, she was writing for a famous magazine. She felt this might have seemed surprising to some.
A collection of her short pieces was published in 2001. It was called Talk Stories. These were pieces she wrote for The New Yorker between 1974 and 1983.
Awards and Recognition
Jamaica Kincaid has received many awards for her writing. In December 2021, she won the Paris Review Hadada Prize. This award celebrates a writer's lifetime achievements.
Her Writing Style and Themes
Kincaid's novels are often based on her own life. However, she warns readers not to take them too literally. She says, "Everything I say is true, and everything I say is not true." Her stories often focus on feelings and ideas more than just plot. They often show conflicts with a strong mother figure. They also explore the effects of colonialism.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a famous literary critic, praised Kincaid's work. He said she writes about the Black experience naturally. She does not need to explain that it exists. This allows her to explore deeper themes. These include how people love, cry, live, and die.
Main Ideas in Her Books
Kincaid's writing explores many important ideas. These include:
- Colonialism: The impact of one country controlling another.
- Postcolonialism: What happens after a country gains independence.
- Mother-daughter relationships.
- The effects of British and American influence.
- Education during colonial times.
- Racism and social class.
- Power and death.
- Growing up (adolescence).
In her recent novel, See Now Then, she also explores the idea of time.
How She Writes
Kincaid's writing style is unique. Some critics say it uses magical realism. This is a style where magical things happen in a real world. Kincaid says her work is "magic" and "real," but not exactly "magical realism." Others call her style "modernist." This means it is experimental and specific to her culture.
Her writing is praised for its sharp observations. It is also known for being witty and poetic. Her short story "Girl" is a list of instructions. It tells a girl how to live and act. But the messages are much deeper than just the list.
Derek Walcott, a Nobel Prize winner, admired her sentences. He said they seem to discover their own feelings. Susan Sontag also praised Kincaid's writing. She called it emotionally truthful and complex. Kincaid's writing is often described as "fearless." It is known for its "force and originality."
What Influences Her Writing
Kincaid's life experiences greatly influence her writing. Even so, she advises readers not to read her fiction as a direct autobiography. She once worked as an au pair for Michael Arlen. He later became a colleague at The New Yorker. The father character in her novel Lucy is based on him. Despite her warning, Kincaid has also said she would always write about her own experiences.
How People React to Her Work
People have different opinions about Kincaid's work. Some critics focus on its social and political messages. Peter Kurth called her book My Brother overrated in 1997.
When reviewing her novel See Now Then (2013), Dwight Garner called it "bipolar." He said it was "half séance, half ambush." He also described it as a difficult book. Another review said it was "not an easy book to stomach." But it also praised her "force and originality." Kate Tuttle noted that Kincaid herself said the book was meant to be difficult.
Some critics have been very harsh. One review of Mr Potter (2002) said its repetition was not meaningful. However, many others have praised her writing. They say her style is very precise. It avoids common mistakes in novels.
See also
In Spanish: Jamaica Kincaid para niños
- Caribbean literature
Awards and Honors
- 1984: Morton Dauwen Zabel Award for At the Bottom of the River
- 1985: Guggenheim Award for Fiction
- 1985: Finalist for the International Ritz Paris Hemingway Award for Annie John
- 1992: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Colgate University
- 1997: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for The Autobiography of My Mother
- 1999: Lannan Literary Award for Fiction
- 2000: Prix Femina étranger for My Brother
- 2004: American Academy of Arts and Letters
- 2009: American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2010: Center for Fiction's Clifton Fadiman Medal for Annie John
- 2011: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Tufts University
- 2014: Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award for See Now Then
- 2015: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Brandeis University
- 2017: Winner of the Dan David Prize in Literature
- 2021: Royal Society of Literature International Writer
- 2021: Langston Hughes Medal
- 2022: The Paris Review Hadada prize for lifetime achievement
