Autobiography of My Mother
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Autobiography of My Mother

by Jamaica Kincaid

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Introduction

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]

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]

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]

Religion

Kincaid is a convert to Judaism.[9]

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)

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)

References

  1. ^ http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/kincaidJamaica.php
  2. ^ http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2502
  3. ^ Ibid.
  4. ^ Cassidy, Thomas. "Jamaica Kincaid." Critical Survey of Long Fiction. Literary Resource Center. Web.
  5. ^ http://www.missourireview.org/content/dynamic/view_text.php?text_id=1947
  6. ^ Cassidy.
  7. ^ "Jamaica Kincaid." Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Fiction. Literary Resource Center. Web.
  8. ^ http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/kincaidJamaica.php
  9. ^ Donna Halper. "Black Jews: A Minority Within a Minority". Ujc.org. http://www.ujc.org/page.aspx?id=26506. Retrieved 2010-08-03. 

Other references

  • Jamaica Kincaid: A Bibliography of Dissertations and Theses, ISBN 978-1-45367749-0.

External links

  • Voices from the Gaps biography
  • Literary Encyclopedia biography

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