JK
Meet the Author

Jamaica Kincaid

Antiguan · born 1949 · Novelist, essayist, and short-story writer

An Antiguan-born writer whose sharp, rhythmic prose examines mothers, daughters, and the legacy of colonialism.

1 StoryBites Edition1 Short story
Start with Girl → Browse the editions

Why read Jamaica Kincaid?

Kincaid writes with a voice that is lyrical and unsparing at once. Her stories and novels explore growing up in Antigua, the pull between mothers and daughters, and the lasting damage of colonial rule. Read her for prose that sounds like no one else’s.

A life in six dates

  1. 1949Born Elaine Potter Richardson in St. John’s, Antigua
  2. 1965Moves to the United States at sixteen
  3. 1973Adopts the name Jamaica Kincaid
  4. 1978Publishes Girl in The New Yorker
  5. 1983At the Bottom of the River
  6. 1985Annie John
  7. 1988A Small Place

Themes across the work

World literatureComing of ageFeminism

The StoryBites Editions

Context that actually matters

Caribbean literatureHer work belongs to a tradition of writers examining life in the Caribbean after colonial rule.
ColonialismShe writes directly about how British rule shaped Antigua and its people.
The New YorkerShe published much of her early work there as a staff writer.