Derek Walcott was a distinguished West Indian poet and playwright.
He was born in Saint Lucia on January 23rd, 1930. Walcott’s first published poem was printed in The Voice of St. Lucia when the poet was fourteen years old. He later attended the University of the West Indies, having received a Colonial Development and Welfare scholarship.
Walcott borrowed money to self publish his first collection titled ‘25 Poems’, in1948. The poet sold the book on the streets of West Indies. ‘Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos’ followed in 1949.
The influence of Shakespeare, Eliot and Pound can be found in these poems. Walcott made his name with the collection ‘In a Green Night: Poems 1948-1960’.
‘White Egrets’ ‘Selected Poems’, ‘The Prodigal’ and ‘Tiepolo’s Hound’ were some of his other famous works.
Walcott also founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop. His play ‘Dream on Monkey Mountain’ won the Obie Award for distinguished foreign play of 1971.
Walcott won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. Derek Walcott breathed his last on March 17th, 2017, in Saint Lucia.