LA Times Festival of Books. Jamaica Kincaid in Conversation with Hector Tobar

It was off to one of my favorite events of the year in Los Angeles: The LA Times Festival of Books. My fifth conversation was called "Jamaica Kincaid in Conversation with Hector Tobar."

The below biography was stolen from the LA Times Festival guide:

Jamaica Kincaid.  Kincaid was born in St. John's, Antigua.  Her books include "See Now Then," "At the Bottom of the River," "Annie John," "Lucy," "The Autobiography of my Mother," "My Brother" and "Potter." She lives with her family in Vermont.

The below are my notes -- flawed as they might be:

Her latest book is about a family that separates.  Mother, Father, Son, Daughter.

Quote:  "You are like walking into barbwire at night."

When she started writing, she wanted to write something new.  Didn't want to write a big book.  Wanted to write a new way.  Would write one sentence short stories.  Wanted to do something about time.

One big influence to her style was the KJV Bible.  Only thing she had to read for awhile.  Other influences:  Paradise Lost, which she was forced to copy due to behavior at school.  She fell in love with Lucifer.  She was given a dictionary for her 7th birthday, which she read cover to cover.  Also, her life influenced her.  She grew up on a small island, which was important to the British empire.

The narrator is the most unreliable person of the book.  Talks about events from their viewpoint.  But the narrator can be entertaining and is giving a complicated truth.

Every person is capable of doing some that is unknown to others.

"To exist is a disaster."

While little she was considered a liar, but was bad at it as it was easy to see through her lies.  So much of what she has to say has to be the truth.  Wanted to write truthfully about things.  Wasn't aware of various writing theories when she started writing.

Why do people doubt me when I say it is a novel [her most recent book]?  Don't say it is autobiographical.

Her children don't read her books.  She is greatful for this.  They know plenty about their mother and don't need to read more about her.

Her children did resent that she was more interested in something else versus them.  What is good for you is not always good for your children.  She learned this when she went to Finland and came back to find that her child had developed a stutter.