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Derek Alton Walcott

デレク・アルトン・ウォルコット

Derek Walcott

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1930-01-23 （Castries, Saint Lucia）
Died
2017-03-17 （Cap Estate (Gros-Islet), Saint Lucia） age 87
Nationality
Saint Lucia
Languages
English
Religion
Methodism
Residence History
Castries, Saint Lucia → Port of Spain, Trinidad → Brookline / Boston, United States → New York, United States

Career

Occupations
poet, playwright, professor
Active Years
1948-2017
Affiliations
Trinidad Theatre Workshop (founder, board member), Boston University (faculty), Boston Playwrights' Theatre (founder), University of Essex (Professor of Poetry / honorary)
Influenced By
T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop
Influenced
Kamau Brathwaite, Édouard Glissant, Various Caribbean poets and playwrights

Education

St. Mary's College (secondary school)
Country: Saint Lucia
Attended the Catholic secondary school St. Mary's College
University College of the West Indies (Kingston)
Period: 1950s
Year of Graduation: 1953
Country: Jamaica
Studied on a scholarship; moved to Trinidad after graduation in the early 1950s

Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature
1992
Organization: Nobel Committee / Nobel Foundation
Result: 受賞
T. S. Eliot Prize
2011
Work: White Egrets
Organization: T. S. Eliot Prize committee
Result: 受賞
Obie Award
1971
Work: Dream on Monkey Mountain
Category: Best Foreign Play
Organization: Obie Awards (Off-Broadway Theater Awards)
Result: 受賞
MacArthur Fellowship
1981
Organization: MacArthur Foundation
Result: 受賞
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
1988
Organization: British monarchy
Result: 受賞
W. H. Smith Literary Award
1990
Work: Omeros
Organization: W. H. Smith
Result: 受賞
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Lifetime Achievement)
2004
Organization: Anisfield-Wolf
Result: 受賞
OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature
2011
Work: White Egrets
Organization: OCM Bocas Prize
Result: 受賞
Griffin Poetry Prize (Lifetime Recognition Award)
2015
Organization: Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry
Result: 受賞
Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Lucia
2016
Organization: Government of Saint Lucia
Result: 叙勲

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Omeros

1990 epic poem / book-length poem 320 pages

A book-length epic poem set largely on Saint Lucia that echoes Homeric characters and themes to explore fishermen, colonial history, memory, and Caribbean identity, composed in a variation of terza rima.

colonialismmemory and historyisland and seaidentity

Dream on Monkey Mountain

1967 play / drama

A play dealing with colonial oppression and self-recognition, using the protagonist Makak's condition to represent the colonized subject.

colonialismidentityliberation
Adaptations
  • [TV production / stage] Dream on Monkey Mountain (TV production / stage) (1970)

White Egrets

2010 poetry collection

A late collection of poems meditating on nature, aging, memory and loss, awarded the T. S. Eliot Prize.

natureagingmemory

Bibliography

  • 25 Poems (1948)
  • Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949)
  • In a Green Night: Poems 1948–60 (1962)
  • Another Life (1973)
  • Omeros (1990)
  • Tiepolo's Hound (2000)
  • The Prodigal (2004)
  • White Egrets (2010)

Adaptations

  • Documentary 'Poetry Is an Island: Derek Walcott' (2013)

Translations of Works

  • Various translations of his works into multiple languages exist

Style & Themes

Literary Style
painterly, visual imageryblend of classical forms and modern dictioncombination of lyricism and epic narrative
Recurring Motifs
sea and islandshipwreck/drift metaphorscolonial legacy and hybrid identitypainting and visual imagery

Health

  • kidney disease
    晩年
    He experienced health problems in later life; kidney disease was reported as a contributing factor to his death.

Legacy

Derek Walcott brought Caribbean literature to global attention; acclaimed for works such as Omeros, he received the Nobel Prize among many honors. His papers are preserved in academic archives and he left a major cultural legacy in the Caribbean and world literature.

Museums

  • Walcott House 17 Chaussée Road, Castries, Saint Lucia Opened in 2016

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature (honorary)

Archives

  • The Derek Walcott Collection (Main Library, University of the West Indies at St. Augustine)

In Popular Culture

  • Documentary 'Poetry Is an Island: Derek Walcott' (2013)
  • Derek Walcott Square named in Castries

Quotes

  • I have never separated the writing of poetry from prayer. I have grown up believing it is a vocation.
    Source: The Paris Review interview (The Art of Poetry No. 37) (1986)
  • The Nobel Committee described his work as "a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision."
    Source: Nobel Committee (1992)

Trivia

  • His twin brother Roderick Walcott was also a playwright.
  • He was also a painter; his watercolors have been exhibited.
  • He was given a state funeral in Saint Lucia in 2017.
  • The Derek Walcott Collection at UWI is registered in UNESCO's Memory of the World.