Introduction


Jamaica Kincaid
Jamaica Kincaid began her life as Elaine Cynthia Potter Richardson, but she changed her name in 1973 because her family did not approve of her writing career. She began composing articles for Ingenue Magazine and The New Yorker. Her first novel, Lucy, is somewhat based on her experience of being born in Antigua and moving to the United States. She explored these same themes in her earlier book Annie John. Another of her important works is The Autobiography of My Mother, which tackles issues of colonialism. Kincaid has also written short stories and essays, and she teaches creative writing at Harvard University. She has said of herself, “I’m someone who writes to save her life. I mean, I can’t imagine what I would do if I didn’t write.”

Essential Facts

  1. Kincaid studied photography at the New York School for Social Research and also attended Franconia College in New Hampshire for one year.
  2. In addition to writing, Kincaid is an avid gardener and has written many articles about gardening.
  3. Kincaid married Allen Shawn, the son of her boss at The New Yorker. They now have two children.
  4. Kincaid often writes about mother-daughter relationships and other feminist themes. She says, “I don’t really write about men unless they have something to do with a woman.”
  5. Although Kincaid worked for The New Yorker for many years, the magazine refused to publish her nonfiction book A Small Place because of its angry tone.