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Heroes of Reparatory Justice and Nobel Laureates

Early Years

 “...because the fate of poetry is to fall in love with the world, in spite of history...”

 

Born Derek Alton Walcott, on January 23, 1930, along with twin brother Roderick, in Castries, St. Lucia, to parents Warwick Walcott, a civil servant, and Alix Walcott, a schoolteacher. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992.

Formative years influenced by St. Lucia’s colonial history and multicultural environment, including African, Dutch, and English heritage.

Education and Upbringing

  • St. Mary’s College in St. Lucia
  • University College of the West Indies ( The University of the West Indies)
  • His early environment was shaped by a fusion of English, Dutch, and African cultural influences, which profoundly impacted his worldview. These experiences would later inform the poetic lens through which he examined Caribbean identity and the enduring legacies of colonialism.

 Honours and Awards

Recognitions for Academic and Societal Contributions

  • Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1992, for “ a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment”.

Acceptance speech:

“The honour that you pay me is accepted in the one name that comprises all of the supposedly broken languages of the Caribbean. They cohere in this moment, a moment that recognises their endeavour and one which I receive with pride and humility on their behalf. Pride in the continuing struggle of Antillean writers, humility in the glare of representing them by my own evanescent image”.

  • 1981 - MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, often referred to as the ‘genius’ award.

2016 - Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Lucia

1993 Order of Merit, Jamaica

1973 Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), United Kingdom
2008 - Honorary Doctorate, University of Essex.

1994 - Honourary Doctorate, University of Alcara

1973 - Honourary DLitt, University of the West Indies

1988 - Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry(First Commonwealth recipient)

Journey to the Nobel Prize/ Reparation Hero

Award Winning Contributions

  • Derek Walcott's path to the Nobel Prize was rooted in his deep exploration of Caribbean history and identity and began early on in his career.
  • Omeros, Walcott’s ambitious reworking of classical epics within a Caribbean framework, was a decisive factor in his receipt of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature.
  • Through the fusion of lived experience and ancestral legacy, his poetry explores the question of identity and heritage and where one truly belongs.

Highlights of Nobel Prize Ceremony and Acceptance Speech

  • On the evening of December 10, 1992, Sir Derek Walcott delivered his speech at the Nobel Banquet, marking a historic moment in Caribbean literary history.

Societal Impacts

Advocacy Efforts through the Arts

  • As a literary figure, Derek Walcott was instrumental in asserting the value of Caribbean perspectives and self-representation.
  •  His advocacy for Caribbean cultural identity found powerful expression through his poetry and plays which frequently confronted the themes of colonialism, heritage and self-definition.
  • 1959 - Co-founder Trinidad Theatre Workshop, where Caribbean cultural heritage and postcolonial identity took center stage.

Fun facts 

  • He was an admirer artist such as Paul Cezanne
  • Derek Walcott was not only a talented poet but early on he also toyed with the idea of becoming a painter or a writer.
  • Derek Walcott had visual art exhibited at the Anita Shapolsky Gallery in New York in 2007.
  • He had a twin brother who was coincidentally also a playwright