Jamaica Kincaid

Speaking with students as the spring’s Bingham Visiting Writer, award-winning author Jamaica Kincaid urged young writers to throw off the restraints of convention. During her time on campus, which coincided with International Women’s Day, Ms. Kincaid reflected on her career and on womanhood. Born in Antigua, Ms. Kincaid came to the United States at age 16. In her first writing job at the teen magazine Ingénue, Ms. Kincaid interviewed Gloria Steinem about her teenage years. Soon, she joined the staff of The New Yorker. Her works of fiction frequently examine topics of race, gender and sexuality, and colonialism, along with complicated mother-daughter relationships. Ms. Kincaid is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and she teaches at Harvard. Her works include At the Bottom of the River, Annie John, Lucy, The Autobiography of My Mother, and Mr. Potter. See Now Then, her most recent novel, won the Before Columbus Foundation’s American Book Award in 2014.

“When I first came to America, feminism was a topic of great debate. I don’t know why it was resisted. I don’t know why we have to make the case for ourselves.”