Monday, July 23, 2012

Jamaica Kincaid, Writing as "Self Rescuing"

Jamaica Kincaid, major Caribbean-American author, who speaks tomorrow, Tuesday, 7/24, in Saratoga, recalls the childhood neglect that propelled her to become a writer.

Growing up as an only child until the age of 9, her mother and stepfather gave birth to three sons in quick succession....

"I don't know if having other children was the cause for our relationship changing - it might have changed as I entered adolescence, but her attention went elsewhere. And also our family money remained the same but there were more people to feed and to clothe and so everything got sort of shortened not only material things but emotional things, the good emotional things I got a short end of that. But then I got more of things I didn't have, like a certain kind of cruelty and neglect. In the end it didn't matter. When I was first a young person it did matter a lot because I didn't know what had happened to me.. If I hadn't become a writer I don't know what would have happened to me; that was a kind of self rescuing."
Jamaica Kincaid will share the stage with novelist Henri Cole, tomorrow, Tuesday, July 24th, 8PM, Davis Audiorium, Palamountain Hall, 815 North Broadway, Saratoga. Free.

Click here for more events in the series. All are free and open to the general public.