Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Internationally recognized novelist, essayist and Harvard professor, Jamaica Kincaid will discuss "Coming of Age in a Small Place" at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11 in Kenan Auditorium. The talk, presented by the UNCW Leadership Lecture Series and co-sponsored by Student Media, the Graduate School, and GSA will be followed by a question and answer period and book signing.

Kincaid is considered one of the most important women Caribbean writers, having carved out a unique place in the American literary landscape with her vivid and often harrowing fiction suffused with her experiences growing up in Antigua under the pressures of poverty, colonialism, and an ambivalent mother. These experiences both inspire and inform the movement of her evocative, edgy, and sometimes controversial fiction and nonfiction.

Kincaid was also influential in the production of the documentary film, Life & Debt about the impact of economic globalization on developing countries. Featuring a voice-over narration written by Kincaid, the film sees the reality of globalization as an unapologetic look at the "new world order," and from the point of view of Jamaican workers, farmers, government and policy officials who see the reality of globalization from the ground up. UNCW Presents and the Upperman Center will host a free screening of Life & Debt at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12 in the Lumina Theater.

Her award winning writing includes literary fiction, horticultural essays as well as documentaries on third world economics. In addition to her nine years as a staff writer for the New Yorker and featured columnist for its "Talk of the Town" section, Kincaid has won acclaim for her novels and essays including Annie John, Lucy and The Autobiography of My Mother as well as the memoir A Small Place. In addition to teaching creative writing at Harvard University, Jamaica Kincaid produces books on her passion, horticulture, including My Garden and Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalayas

Kincaid currently lives in Bennington, Vermont with her husband, Allen Shawn, a composer and son of the former editor of The New Yorker, and their two children. She teaches creative writing at Bennington College and Harvard University.

BOX OFFICE AND TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are $9 for the public and free to UNCW students, faculty and staff. For tickets, call Kenan Box Office 910.962.3500. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and one hour prior to the event.

About UNCW Leadership lecture Series
The Leadership Lecture Series serves as a forum for intellectual inquiry and discussion offering the campus and community opportunities to discuss and explore the political, cultural and economic trends and issues that shape and affect our communities today. By inviting a speaker to the campus, the university does not endorse any particular position. Expect to be enlightened, challenged and inspired. For more information, please visit the web site at uncw.edu/presents.