Writer Novelist Professor

With her books and novels, including Annie John, Lucy, At the Bottom of the River and the controversial A Small Place, Kincaid has carved out a unique and cherished place in the American literary landscape. Strikingly honest — and with what Susan Sontag praised as “an emotional truthfulness” — she vividly describes the difficult coming-of-age of strong-minded girls who, very much like herself, were born into tropical poverty.

She (was) wonderful...and our students were just delighted to have her here. She got a huge ovation as she went up on stage.

Wesleyan University

Kincaid’s literary “voice” is deeply rooted in her experiences as a child in her native Antigua and her tempestuous relationship with her mother. Growing up under the colonial rule of England instilled in her a tragic, yet often-ignored perspective that echoes through all of her writing. Says Kincaid, “I never give up thinking about the way I came into the world, how my ancestors came from Africa to the West Indies as slaves. I just never forget it. It’s like a big wave that’s still pulsing.”

Kincaid’s award-winning book, A Small Place, inspired the 2001 documentary, Life and Debt, about the impact economic globalization can have on a developing country. Featuring a voice-over narration written by Kincaid, the film is an unapologetic look at the "new world order," from the point of view of Jamaican workers, farmers, government and policy officials who see the reality of globalization from the ground up.

At the age of 17, Kincaid left Antigua to work as an au pair, or what she describes as “a servant,” for an upper class family in New York City. She went on to study photography and then to a brief stay at Franconia College in New Hampshire before returning to Manhattan.

As a writer for The Village Voice and Ingenue magazine, Kincaid drew the attention of William Shawn (then editor of The New Yorker) with her literary instincts and descriptive sensibilities. She became a New Yorker staff writer and a featured columnist for its “Talk of the Town” section.

Her other books include: Autobiography of My Mother; My Brother and Mr. Potter. An avid gardener, Kincaid is also the Editor of My Garden (Book) and the author of Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalayas.

Kincaid’s work has received wide critical acclaim. She won the Morton Dauwen Zabel Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts for her first book, At the Bottom of the River. Since 1992 she has been a visiting professor at Harvard University. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004.

Kincaid lives in Vermont, and is at work on a new novel, See Now Then.