Walcott, Derek

Born in Saint Lucia in 1930, Derek Walcott is not only the foremost Caribbean poet writing today (as well as a dramatist and painter) but a major figure in world literature, recognised with the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992 ‘for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment’. Most of his work explores the Caribbean cultural experience, the history, landscape and lives of its multiracial people, fusing folk culture and oral tales with the classical, avant-garde and English literary tradition. He was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Poetry in 1988, and now divides his time between homes in Saint Lucia and New York.