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| 1/23/1930 |
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Derek Walcott's Caribbean Nobel
On this day in 1930 Derek Walcott was born on St. Lucia. Walcott's two-dozen collections of poems and plays -- Tiepolo's Hound widens the range by including his paintings -- earned the 1992 Nobel. Friend and earlier Nobel-winner Joseph Brodsky said that the West Indes were "discovered by Columbus, colonized by the British, and immortalized by Walcott." |
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BBC Interviews
An interview in which the author discusses the idea of history being "more like the sea" than a progressive evolution, rhyme and metre as a form of prayer, and his love of St Lucia, The Order of the Humming Bird award, and the divisions within him of culture, language and reality.
"In the terms of the writer, the division that is there instinctually is can I resolve the feeling that I have toward the sound of the language without splitting and going in one direction or another, without sounding English or without sounding over-Caribbean.... I resisted the idea of Europe physically for a long time. I felt I couldn't go and be in Italy, I couldn't be in Greece, unless I felt I could go into some ruins and see the Mediterranean without any aesthetic longing or envy. I think that now I can go anywhere now in Europe. But I think that I had to know that I felt West Indian." |  | Derek Walcott, 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature
Walcott was awarded the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature "for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment." Visit the official Nobel website for an audio interview with this celebrated author, and an article about Omeros, The Odyssey, and Walcott's poetry and dramatic works. A biography, Nobel speeches, images of the laureate's Swedish Nobel Stamps, and other resources are also provided. | | The Postcolonial Web - Derek Walcott
Find literary criticism and analysis of theme and subject matter, the use of imagery and symbolism, characterization, plot, and structure. Brief essays provide historical, social and political context to Walcott's works. A seperate section offers theories of colonialism and post-colonialism.
"Omeros narrates the individual quests of several characters; however, the contemplations of Achille most closely resemble Walcott's search for his identity. Walcott represents his thoughts through the 'I' narrator. The 'I' embarks on a grand tour of Europe, as well as the American West, to define the British aspects of his nature, similar to Achille who ventures back to Africa. In this sense, the 'I' is the poet, and Achille symbolizes Walcott's alter-ego. It seems that Walcott already embraces his European ancestry, since the poem uses the imperial tongue, the English language. The figure of Achille provides Walcott with a recourse for his musings about the culture of his conquered ancestors. Despite the separate journeys of Achille and Walcott, the two figures share a common goal." | |
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The TinL masthead features photography by
Natasha D'Schommer
, and the book art featured is by Jim Rosenau.
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