Jamaica Kincaid has been praised by The New York Times as a writer who "writes with passion and conviction, and also writes with a musical sense of language, a poet's understanding of how politics and history, private and public events overlap and blur." On November 5 and 6, she will visit Carleton College to share her expertise with students as the College's 1998 Alice Lynch Vincent Fellow. During her stay on campus, Kincaid will present Carleton's weekly convocation, host small group discussions, visit classes and sign books.
Kincaid's convocation address, consisting of readings from her writings, will take place at 10:50 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 6, in Skinner Memorial Chapel. The event is free and open to the public. Kincaid will later sign copies of her novels at 1:15 p.m. in the Carleton Bookstore.
Born in St. John's Antigua, West Indies, Kincaid came to the United States when she was 17 years old, and began contributing pieces to The New Yorker's "Talk of the Town" section after working a series of odd jobs. She resigned from The New Yorker in 1995 after nearly 20 years as a staff writer.
The recipient of many honors, Kincaid has been a nominee for the National Book Critics Circle award in fiction, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner award, and the winner of the Cleveland Foundation's Anisfield-Wolf award as well as the Boston Book Review's Fisk Fiction Prize.
Kincaid's work describes the difficult coming-of-age of strong-minded girls who, like herself, were born into poverty in tropical regions. Her most recent novel "My Brother," a meditation on her return to Antigua to care for her now-deceased brother while he was dying of AIDS, was a finalist for the 1997 National Book Award.
"My Brother" is this year's Common Reading selection for first-year students at Carleton, who are required to read the novel prior to arriving on campus. Faculty and staff members then mediate large and small group discussions on the novel during Carleton's New Student Week, one week prior to the commencement of fall classes.
On Thursday afternoon, Nov. 5, Kincaid will participate in several events with Carleton students, faculty and staff, including a discussion titled "A Conversation with Jamaica Kincaid," moderated by Professor of Dance Mary Easter. Easter will ask Kincaid questions which surfaced during this year's common reading of "My Brother." Kincaid will also visit "Multicultural Education," a class taught by Assistant Professor of Educational Studies Mary Hermes.
Kincaid will attend a dinner and panel discussion with students, faculty, staff and alumni on Thursday evening. The panel discussion on "Writing Memoirs" features Jane McDonnell, senior lecturer in women's studies and author of "Living to Tell the Tale: A Guide to Writing Memoir," and Robert Tisdale, Class of 1944 Professor of English and the Liberal Arts. The discussion will be moderated by Cherif Keita, associate professor of French.
Francis T. "Fay" Vincent, Jr., former trustee of Carleton, and his two sisters, Joanna E. Vincent and Barbara J. Vincent, established the Vincent Fellowship in 1995 in honor and memory of their mother, Alice Lynch Vincent.
Carleton's Vincent Fellows are accomplished individuals of diverse careers and interests whose visits provide Carleton students with an opportunity for several days of conversation, in and out of classroom settings. Past Vincent Fellows include Isaac Stern, Richard Helms, Beverly Sills, Larry Doby and Gerald Levin.