Home > assh > kunapipi > Vol. 14 (1992) > Iss. 2
Abstract
Derek Walcott, the Nobel Laureate for Literature, 1992, was born, along with his twin brother Roderick, on January 23, 1930, in St Lucia in the old British West Indies. His parents were Alix Walcott, a respected school teacher, and her husband Warwick Walcott, of the Public Works Department. Warwick died when the twins were one year old, leaving Alix the daunting task of bringing up the twins and their sister Pamela. Despite the early death of Warwick he, who had been himself a painter and producer of plays, was to have a great influence on the artistic career of Derek. Because I was one of the main readers on Henry Swanzy's BBC's Caribbean Voices I was fortunate to come into contact with Walcott's work as early as 1949, and 1 first met him in 1951 at the Colony Club, Jamaica. He was with an old school mate of mine, Tony Steer, who, Walcott tells me, later appointed himself a bishop of his own church somewhere in Central America.
Recommended Citation
Figueroa, John J., Derek Walcott - A Personal Memoir, Kunapipi, 14(2), 1992.
Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol14/iss2/14
