It’s a good time to come home. The Princess Margaret School was proud to receive a visit from Jamaica Kincaid last week. Ms. Kincaid is a former student of the school and has achieved fame on a world scale as a novelist amongst a host of other pursuits. She is the subject of a film currently in the works by Stephanie Black along with a talented Antiguan film crew. Before last week, it had been decades since Jamaica last walked the halls of Princess Margaret and she was eager to meet and interact with the students who currently do. The day began with Jamaica fondly sharing memories of her life with a selection of students studying English Literature. She recollected her days as a young girl sitting in a classroom and cultivating a great love for works of prose and poetry. Jamaica has written several books that draw inspiration from her life in Antigua, one of which, Annie John is on the school’s curriculum.
Afterwards, Ms. Kincaid was kind enough to sit down with us at ROAR, and talking with her came easily. We spoke of her school days when being punished by a teacher meant being sent in the corner with a book pushed in your hands and prayers were recited at the end of the school day and not just at the beginning. As Jamaica recounts, success came to her pretty early in her career, but she’s never forgotten the value of hard work. And though much has changed between then and now, this principle has remained steadfast. The walk down memory lane can be illuminating and cathartic. Similar to the poem Daffodils by William Wordsworth, which Jamaica learnt and recited as a student in the auditorium, to relive a memory is to revel in the beauty of past experiences.
Later on, as members of the crew set up shots for the film on Ms. Kincaid, the movie star herself was content to just sit on a bench amongst students, at times laughing along with them as they chattered. And to them, she was just a sweet older lady who used to go to their school. Jamaica Kincaid is in fact the recipient of numerous notable awards spanning the length of her career like the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship for Fiction in 1985 and more recently, the St. Louis Literary Award in 2024. She’s also passionate about gardening, having written several books on the topic. And that afternoon, she looked on happily as a class of Agricultural Science students began tilling the soil. Ms. Jamaica Kincaid spent the day with her alma mater as a thoughtful observer, quick to laugh and share in witty banter. She was delightfully kind and an inspiration, reminding those who are fearful of failure, that success comes in trying and trying and trying. Princess Margaret School looks forward to seeing her again soon.
The alumni visits continue…we hope to see you too.
