Writer Jamaica Kincaid was honored with the 2024 St. Louis Literary Award at an event held on April 24, 2024, at the Missouri Botanical Garden. During the ceremony at the Sheldon Concert Hall, Kincaid expressed her gratitude by saying, “I am very honored. I am grateful for your faith in me and your interest in what I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Kincaid’s literary work often delves into themes such as colonialism, gender and sexuality, racism, class, and familial relationships. She captivated the audience with stories from her childhood in Antigua and recounted how her mother taught her to read using a biography of Louis Pasteur and encouraged her to attend school before she turned five.
Maryse Jayasuriya, Ph.D., a professor of English at Saint Louis University who moderated the event, recalled an earlier interview where Kincaid had remarked that she had never met a man as impressive as her mother. “I think of her as a god, not a goddess,” Kincaid stated about her mother.
During a Craft Talk session on Friday morning following the award ceremony, Kincaid shared insights into writing without concern for audience perception: “You want to write something that people take seriously,” she said. “You can’t worry if they are taking your work to the beach to read.”
Kincaid’s journey began when she moved to the United States as a teenager and started writing columns for publications like Ingénue, The Village Voice, and Ms. Her writings have also appeared in The Paris Review and The New Yorker.
Her first book published in 1983 was “At the Bottom of the River,” a collection of short stories and reflections. She is also known for novels such as “Annie John,” “Lucy,” and “See Now Then,” along with personal works like “The Autobiography of My Mother,” “Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalaya,” and “My Brother.”
The St. Louis Literary Award department within SLU Libraries offers several initiatives including a Campus Read series open to the public; an Undergraduate Writing Award; Literature & Medicine; Inspired By Arts Showcase for High School and College Students; and the Walter J. Ong S.J. Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Research.
