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The celebrated author Jamaica Kincaid receives the Gothenburg Book Fair’s literary prize, The Mermaid Award – a prestigious international award established to mark the Book Fair’s 40th anniversary. She is being honoured for her lyrical, humorous and sometimes confrontational style, which captivates readers worldwide and explores themes such as colonialism, mother-daughter relationships and gardening.
In 2026, the prestigious literary award, The Mermaid Award, will be presented for the third time. The prize was established to recognise and honour writers who move and engage their readers. This year’s winner is Jamaica Kincaid – one of the most influential literary voices of our time.
‘I am very honoured and touched by this award. Please know how grateful I am,’ says Jamaica Kincaid, who, upon receiving the news, also shared lines from Ann Spencer’s poem Earth, I Thank You, a work that explores the shared roots of language and nature.
The jury’s citation reads:
“Jamaica Kincaid’s books are slim, yet they make the world seem wider. In her novels and essays, she shines a sobering light on our colonial history and family relationships, as well as on the flowers in our gardens. At the same time, she imbues her work with a sensual gaze and life-affirming faith in literature. The Mermaid Award 2026 is presented to a curious writer who helps us understand what it means to be human in a world that constantly finds new ways to devalue the human.”
Jamaica Kincaid is an internationally acclaimed novelist and essayist, known for her incisive and autobiographical explorations of identity and power. She was born on the Caribbean island of Antigua in the West Indies, a background that is clearly reflected in her writing and its themes. She made her debut with the short story collection *At the Bottom of the River* (1983) and achieved her breakthrough with the novel *Annie John* (1985).
Her most acclaimed works include the novels *Lucy* and *My Mother’s Autobiography*, as well as the influential essay *A Small Place*, which has reached over a million readers and explores tourism on her home island. Kincaid has also written about botany and gardening, for example in (The Book of) My Garden, and was a contributor to The New Yorker for many years. She currently lives in the United States, where she also works as a professor at Harvard University.