Derek (Alton) Walcott
Born in Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies, 23 January 1930.
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 1992.
Educated at St. Mary's College, Castries, 1941-47; University College of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, 1950-54, B.A. 1953. Married 1) Fay Moyston in 1954 (divorced 1959), one son; 2) Margaret Ruth Maillard in 1962 (divorced), two daughters; 3) Norline Metivier in 1982. Teacher, St. Mary's College, Castries, 1947-50 and 1954, Grenada Boy's Secondary School, St. George's, Grenada, 1953-54, and Jamaica College, Kingston, 1955; feature writer, Public Opinion, Kingston, 1956-57; feature writer, 1960-62, and drama critic, 1963-68, Trinidad Guardian, Port-of-Spain. Co-founder, St. Lucia Arts Guild, 1950, and Basement Theatre, Port-of-Spain; founding director, Little Carib Theatre Workshop (later Trinidad Theatre Workshop), 1959-76. Assistant professor of creative writing, 1981, and since 1985 visiting professor, Boston University. Visiting professor, Columbia University, New York, 1981, and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982, 1987. Recipient: Rockefeller grant, 1957, 1966, and fellowship, 1958; Arts Advisory Council of Jamaica prize, 1960; Guinness award, 1961; Ingram Merrill Foundation grant, 1962; Borestone Mountain award, 1964, 1977; Royal Society of Literature Heinemann award, 1966, 1983; Cholmondeley award, 1969; Audrey Wood fellowship, 1969; Eugene O'Neill Foundation fellowship, 1969; Gold Hummingbird medal (Trinidad), 1969; Obie award, for drama, 1971; Jock Campbell award (New Statesman), 1974; Guggenheim award, 1977; American Poetry Review award, 1979; Welsh Arts Council International Writers prize, 1980; MacArthur fellowship, 1981; Los Angeles Times prize, 1986; Queen's gold medal for poetry, 1988; W.H. Smith award, for poetry, 1991; Nobel prize, for literature, 1992. D. Litt.: University of the West Indies, Mona, 1973. Fellow, Royal Society of Literature, 1966; Honorary Member, American Academy, 1979. O.B.E. (Officer, Order of the British Empire), 1972.
Stage Works
- Cry for a Leader (produced 1950).
- Senza Alcun Sospetto (broadcast 1950; as Paolo and Francesca,
produced 1951?).
- Henri Christophe: A Chronicle (also director: produced 1950).
1950.
- Robin and Andrea, December 1950.
- Three Assassins (produced 1951?).
- The Price of Mercy (produced 1951?).
- Harry Dernier (as Dernier, broadcast 1952; as Harry
Dernier, also director: produced 1952). 1952.
- The Sea at Dauphin (produced 1954). 1954
- The Charlatan (also director: produced 1954?; revised version,
music by Fred Hope and Rupert Dennison, produced 1973; revised
version, music by Galt MacDermot, produced 1974; revised version
produced 1977).
- The Wine of the Country (also director: produced 1956).
- The Golden Lions (also director: produced 1956).
- Ione: A Play with Music (produced 1957). 1957.
- Ti-Jean and His Brothers (produced 1957; revised version,
also director:
produced 1958).
- Drums and Colours (produced 1958).
- Malcochon; or, The Six in the Rain (produced 1959; as The
Six in the Rain, produced 1960; as Malcochon,
produced 1969).
- Jourmard; or, A Comedy till the Last Minute (produced 1959).
- Batai (carnival show; also director: produced 1965).
- Dream on Monkey Mountain (also director: produced 1967).
- Franklin: A Tale of the Islands (produced 1969; revised version,
also director: produced 1973).
- In a Fine Castle (also director: produced 1970).
- The Joker of Seville, music by Galt MacDermot, adaptation
of the play by Tirso de Molina (produced 1974).
- O Babylon!, music by Galt MacDermot (also director: produced
1976).
- Remembrance (also director: produced 1977).
- The Snow Queen (television play) April 1977.
- Pantomime (produced 1978). With Remembrance, 1980.
- Marie Laveau, music by Galt MacDermot (also director: produced
1979).
- The Isle Is Full of Noises (produced 1982).
- Beef, No Chicken (produced 1982).
- The Last Carnival (produced 1992).
- To Die for Granada (produced 1986).
- Viva Detroit (produced 1990).
- Steel (produced 1991).
- The Odyssey, adaptation of the epic by Homer (produced 1992).
Radio Plays:
- Senza Alcun Sospetto, 1950;
- Dernier, 1952;
- Pantomime, 1979.