Derek Walcott
Derek Walcott, (1930— ). St Lucian poet and playwright. The son of a St Lucian mother and a British father,’ he writes in English with some words and phrases from French and local patois. His work fuses ‘ elements of Caribbean folk culture with Western literary traditions. He has published numerous volumes of poetry, including Sea Grapes (1976), Collected Poems 1948-1984 (1986), and the epic Omeros (1991), one of several works to show a fascination with Homer. His plays include Dream on Monkey Mountain (1970), A Branch of the Blue Nile (1986), and an adaptation of The Odyssey (1993). Walcott, who is currently professor of English literature at Boston University, was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1992.
