The acclaimed Antiguan-American writer Jamaica Kincaid treated an audience of around 60 Brandeis students and faculty to a reading from her novel-in-progress, See Now Then Thursday in Rapaporte Treasure Hall.After an introduction from Prof. Faith Smith, who chairs the Afro- and African-American Studies department, Kincaid, 57, surprised the crowd-so familiar with her bold, often angry prose-with a soft-spoken, British-Caribbean voice that was so hushed that the audience was inspired to stop eating their provided refeshments and listen. Standing tall with a head of neat corn-rows and a raindrop-shaped face, Kincaid gave a casual introduction to her new novel. The story deals with the Sweet family, who live in a small house in a small village, beginning with the birth of a son. Kincaid described the structure as involving a narrator who sometimes sees the future, sometimes sees the past and sometimes sees reflections of the past in the future; a format she said "sounds confusing, but makes sense to me." In the first pages of her work, through the eyes of the narrator, Mrs. Sweet is seen reflecting on both the destiny of her baby Heracles and on birth in general, which she describes as "a person forcing themselves out into a new set of experiences."

Though the material is somewhat different than Kincaid's other novels, like the notable Annie John and Lucy, her focus here on "the periphery of a family, described from the center" does not stray far from the mother-daughter relationship so prevalent in much of her work. Her style remains familiar, thick with repetition, vivid imagery and what Smith complimented as "her unbearably spare prose," capable of simplifying struggles and issues that are often provocative and dark, as is apparent in the line, "See now then, see then now, just to see anything at all."

Kincaid said she feels a sense of narcissism and vanity about writing and reading her work to an audience, but added she takes more pride in growing a difficult flower than in her novels once they have been published. She showed her modesty and humor when talking about how all of her work is autobiographical, even if it's fiction, by saying, "It's not clear I'm really a writer. I aspire to be one," which elicited a chuckle from the audience.

As she digressed in conversation, as often as she does in her work, Kincaid answered a number of questions fielded by students wondering what inspires her to write about what she does, the way she does. When asked about discovering her "boldness," she said she was unaware she was writing boldly when she began because she had no books while growing up to compare it to. She did admit that her frequent rereading of the Book of Revelations in the New Testament may have revealed her interest in the terrifying, which she prefers to her pet peeve: "positive and uplifting" American novels. And as for her inspiration, Kincaid said she didn't know where her new novel came from, but said she constantly refers to Antigua and Dominica because the islands are her "deepest reality and understanding" and feels the need to reattach herself to home.

Although she's been working on See Now Then for two years now while teaching creative writing at Harvard University and Bennington College, Kincaid said she doesn't believe in writer's block: "Why do they call it a block? Why should writers have to write all the time?," she said. "If they aren't working on something, they are just 'writing' in some other way." Kincaid simply said that "it was about time for me to write" when she started her new novel, re-emphasizing her personable, humble character to a grateful Brandeis community.

Smith opened the lecture with some memorable lines from Kincaid's short story "Girl," first published in The New Yorker in 1978 and in her first book of essays, At the Bottom of the River (1983): "Is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school?; always eat your food in such a way that it won't turn someone else's stomach; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming."

The event was hosted by AAAS and the Women's and Gender Studies Departments, and the Creative Writing program.