Jamaica Kincaid was born in St. John's in Antigua. She has written a number of short stories and essays (some of which about gardening) including "Girl," "At the Bottom of the River," "A Small Place," "On Seeing England for the First Time," "My Brother" and "Figures in the Distance." Her writings often criticise the effects of colonialism, and post colonialism in her home country. She now lives in Vermont in the United States.