Derek Walcott

Start Free Trial

Derek Walcott Biography

Derek Walcott gave the West Indies a voice. In his plays, poetry, and critical essays, Walcott has long sought to unearth independent identities for the people of the West Indies and to explore the aftereffects of colonization. To do so, Walcott employs a rich mixture of images and language, particularly in his most famous play, Dream on Monkey Mountain. As both poet and dramatist, his writing is a mélange—an appropriate approach given the mixture of cultures in the West Indies. He also uses language to explore his postcolonial concerns by mixing local tongues with English, highlighting the unique identities of West Indian people. In doing so, Walcott’s writing underscores the rich, unique, and complicated culture of the Caribbean.

Facts and Trivia

  • In 1959, Walcott founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, which seeks to promote works of West Indian theater.
  • Though his writing style developed apart from Latin American literature, Walcott’s work draws many parallels to the magical realism movement.
  • Walcott’s epic poem Omeros, a reimagining of the Odyssey, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992.
  • Walcott teaches at Boston University and cofounded in 1981 the Boston Playwright’s Theatre, which specializes in performing new plays.
  • One of Walcott’s less successful ventures was cowriting the Broadway musical The Capeman with musician Paul Simon. The costly production was plagued by troubles and poor reviews, closing quickly after its premiere.

Biography

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

Derek Walcott, a poet who profoundly drew inspiration from his personal experiences, began his journey into verse at the tender age of eighteen. His epic poem, Omeros, is steeped in autobiographical elements, reflective of not only his own persona but richly entwined with the cultural tapestry of his homeland, St. Lucia. The poem weaves together the vibrant Creole culture, the unfulfilled potential of his prematurely deceased father, and the omnipresence of the sea, deeply rooted in his St. Lucian heritage.

Early Life and Influences

Born on January 23, 1930, in Castries, the capital city of St. Lucia, Derek and his twin brother Roderick were the sons of Warwick Walcott, a civil servant, and Alix Walcott, a Methodist school headmistress. The early death of their father, an artist and poet, left a significant impact, bequeathing to his sons a passion for capturing the island's beauty, a legacy Derek embraced. Encouraged by his father’s artistic inclinations, Derek pursued both poetry and painting, taking lessons from Harold Simmons, a friend of his late father, and eventually publishing his first collection, 25 Poems, with financial support from his mother.

Education and Early Career

Walcott's formal education took shape at St. Mary's College, where he was guided by English and Irish Catholic educators. In 1953, benefiting from a Colonial Development Scholarship, he graduated from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica with a bachelor's degree. His teaching stints in Grenada and Jamaica were brief before he received a Rockefeller fellowship to study theater in New York under the tutelage of Jose Quintero and Stuart Vaughan in 1958. This period was transformative, exposing him to the stylized forms of classical oriental drama through Bertolt Brecht’s epic theater and Akira Kurosawa’s films, yet also cementing his belief that New York was not receptive to black actors or suitable for the West Indian theater he envisioned.

The Trinidad Theatre Workshop

Disillusioned with American prospects and resolved to make his mark in the Caribbean, Walcott left New York prematurely in 1959 and settled in Port of Spain, Trinidad. There, he contributed arts reviews to the Trinidad Guardian and assembled a passionate ensemble of amateur actors, dancers, musicians, and stage technicians. From these beginnings, the Trinidad Theatre Workshop was born, hailed as the first professional West Indian theater company. The Workshop's stature grew, achieving regional and international recognition, including an Obie award in 1970 for Walcott’s play Dream on Monkey Mountain. However, after seventeen fruitful years, Walcott parted ways with the Workshop in 1976 due to personal and artistic differences.

Academic Pursuits and Global Influence

Following his departure from the Workshop, Walcott’s career entered a phase of transition, characterized by itinerant writing and theater production across the Caribbean. In due course, he began accepting lecturing and visiting professorship positions in American institutions such as New York University, Columbia, Harvard, Rutgers, Yale, and ultimately Boston University, where he remained from 1981 until his Nobel Prize in Literature win in 1992. Throughout these years, Walcott divided his time between the United States and various Caribbean locales, maintaining a strong connection with his roots while influencing and being influenced by broader literary circles.

Return to St. Lucia

In 1993, after garnering international acclaim and numerous accolades, Walcott decided to leave Boston to return to St. Lucia, establishing a home at Cap Estate on the island's northern tip. Back on the island that had always been his spiritual and creative anchor, he continued to travel extensively, sharing his work and gaining inspiration from diverse cultures around the globe. In his later years, Walcott's poetry and plays continued to reflect the themes of cultural identity, belonging, and the passage of time, capturing the essence of the Caribbean experience for audiences worldwide.

Get Ahead with eNotes

Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.

Get 48 Hours Free Access
Next

Critical Essays

Loading...