Jamaica Kincaid is the 2026 Artist-in-Residence in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University. The globally acclaimed author of numerous widely taught and translated novels and essays — including “Annie John,” “Lucy,” “A Small Place,” “The Autobiography of My Mother,” and “See Now Then” — the Antiguan-American novelist’s profound intellectual and cultural influence extends far beyond literature, into art, cultural studies, and political thought. She is a professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. 

Edwidge Danticat is the Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor of the Humanities in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University. Her most recent essay collection, “We're Alone,” published in 2025, joins her previous acclaimed works: including “Create Dangerously;” “Breath, Eyes, Memory,” an Oprah Book Club selection; “Krik? Krak,” a National Book Award finalist; “Claire of the Sea Light;” “Brother, I'm Dying,” a National Book Critics Circle Award winner and National Book Award finalist; as well as seven books for children and young adults; and a travel narrative, “After the Dance.”