KINCAID, JAMAICA (born Elaine Potter Richardson, 25 May 1949), an Antiguan-born American novelist and writer. Kinkaid grew up in a poor family in Antigua. To generate more family income, her mother sent her to New York to work as an au pair in the affluent suburb of Scarsdale. While there, Kincaid enrolled in night classes at a community college. She eventually moved into the city to start her writing career, changing her birth name, Elaine Potter Richardson, to Jamaica Kincaid. She worked as a staff writer at The New Yorker for over two decades, beginning in 1976.
Kincaid’s writing is semi-autobiographical, stylistically innovative, and
provocative. She has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the National Book Award, among other honors. Common themes in her writing include the legacy of slavery and colonialism in Antigua, gender issues, racism, as well as gardening, and familial relationships, such as those between mothers and daughters. In addition to her writing, she is a professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University.