Writer Jamaica Kincaid Wins A Prestigious Israeli Award

The Forward, a New York-based weekly Jewish affairs newspaper, reported in the February 24, 2017 issue that Jamaica Kincaid, a New Yorker magazine staff writer and the author of several novels such as Annie John and a short-story collection called At the Bottom of the River, won the Dan David Prize, "a prestigious Israeli prize in recognition of her cultural impact and literary accomplishment."

Kincaid, born in 1949, on the tiny Caribbean island of Antigua, has written novels, noted the Forward, that "touch on [the] themes of colonialism, blackness, womanhood, depression and displacement."

She converted to Judaism following her marriage to composer and pianist Allen Shawn, a son of William Shawn, the late editor of The New Yorker. They are now divorced.

Kincaid is currently a professor of African and African American studies at Harvard University.

New Yorker Front Cover Celebrates Black Achievement

One of the most beautiful and frameworthy magazine covers I've ever seen was the one for the February 22, 2016 issue of The New Yorker by African-American artist Kadir Nelson. It is titled "Schomburg Center, Harlem, New York" and was obviously published in commemoration of Black History Month.

The illustration is a collage consisting of images of such black icons as James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Malcolm X, and Duke Ellington (sitting at a white piano). In the lower right hand corner are the ivy-covered building that formerly housed the Schomburg Center and the library's newest building that faces Lenox Avenue and abuts the old location.

I can't think of a better tribute to Black History Month and the role Harlem has played ( and continues to play) in the cultural life of America and the world.

A heartfelt thanks to The New Yorker  for publishing and Kadir Nelson for creating such an awesome and memorable cover.

On New Yorker Cartoons

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this: at the bottom of the table of contents in each issue of The New Yorker, the cartoonists are listed in the order of appearance in its pages.

P.S. The New Yorker has the funniest, cleverest, and most thought-provoking cartoons that are worth clipping and saving or sharing with friends, neighbors, co-workers, and others.