In a career spanning poetry, theatre, journalism, painting and teaching, Derek Walcott harnessed “the complexity of his own situation” – the phrase used by the Swedish Academy when he was awarded the Nobel prize in literature in 1992. His father, Warwick, was a civil servant and died the year after Derek was born. At the age of 17, Walcott declared to his mother that he wanted to publish a book of poetry. Anita SethiLawrence Scott writes: In 1979, as stage manager, I sat next to Derek Walcott rehearsing his play Remembrance in the back rooms of the Normandie hotel, Port of Spain. • Derek Alton Walcott, writer, born 23 January 1930; died 17 March 2017

Source: The Guardian March 17, 2017 16:41 UTC