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General Information

Bio

(1930-2017) Poet. Derek Walcott was born in Castries, St. Lucia, and died near Gros Islet, St. Lucia. He studied directing with Jose Quintero in New York for a year. Mr. Walcott visited Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, some 25 times between 1978 and 2014.

Full Name

Derek Alton Walcott

Locations

New York

Author's Timeline


1930

BIRTH

Derek Alton Walcott was born in Castries, St. Lucia, on January 23, 1930.

1958

OTHER

Mr. Walcott studied theater and directing in New York from 1958 to 1959.

1962

LITWORK

In A Green Night: Poems 1948-1960
Jonathan Cape

Collection of poetry.

1965

LITWORK

The Castaway
Jonathan Cape
0224610147 / 978-0224610148
Poetry.

1969

LITWORK

The Gulf and Other Poems
Jonathan Cape
0224617222 / 978-0224617222
Poetry.

1971

LITWORK

Dream On Monkey Mountain


Play.

1973

LITWORK

Another Life
Jonathan Cape
022400882X / 9780224008822
Poetry.

1976

LITWORK

Sea Grapes
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
0374255245 / 978-0374255244
Poetry.

1978

OTHER

Derek Walcott visited Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, at the invitation of Professor Robert Bensen some 25 times between 1978 and 2014, reading from his work and conducting workshops in both poetry writing and acting. After Hartwick's Director of Theatre Duncan Smith arranged for Walcott to visit a January Term acting class, he wrote a play for Hartwick students to perform, "The Ghost Dance," in 1989, which went far in the American College Theatre Festival competition. He facilitated Professor Bensen's January Term class in West Indian literature, including their travel to St. Lucia and Trinidad. After he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, he came to Hartwick and read to an audience of 400 people. Following his death, many former students recounted their experience in his workshops and expressed appreciation for the care and rigor of his work with them. Some credit their pursuit of their vocation in poetry to him. Hartwick College awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1991, and at Commencement that year he read "The Season of Phantasmal Peace."

1979

LITWORK

The Star-Apple Kingdom
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
0374269742 / 978-0374269746
Collection of poetry.

1981

LITWORK

The Fortunate Traveller
New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
0374157650 / 978-0374157654
Collection of poetry.

1984

LITWORK

Midsummer
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
0374208840 / 978-0374208844
Poetry.

1986

LITWORK

Collected Poems 1948-1984
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
0374126267 / 978-0374126261
Poetry.

1987

LITWORK

The Arkansas Testament
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
0374105820 / 978-0374105822
Poetry.

1990

LITWORK

Omeros
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
0374225915 / 978-0374225919
Epic poem.

1993

LITWORK

The Antilles
Farrar Straus & Giroux
0374105308 / 978-0374105303
Nobel Prize speech.

1997

LITWORK

The Bounty
Farrar Straus Giroux
0374115567 / 978-0374115562
Poetry.

1998

LITWORK

What the Twilight Says: Essays
Farrar Straus Giroux
0374288410 / 978-0374288419
Essays.

2000

LITWORK

Tiepolo's Hound
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
0374105871 / 978-0374105877
Collection of poetry.

2002

LITWORK

Walker and The Ghost Dance
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
0374528144 / 978-0374528140
Plays.

2004

LITWORK

The Prodigal
New York, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
0374530165 / 978-0374530167
Poetry.

2007

LITWORK

Selected Poems
New York, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
0374260664 / 978-0374260668
Poetry.

2010

LITWORK

White Egrets: Poems
New York, New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux
0374289298 / 978-0374289294
Poetry.

2014

LITWORK

The Poetry Of Derek Walcott: 1948-2013
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
0374125619 / 978-0374125615
Poetry.

2016

LITWORK

Morning, Paramin
New York, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
0374213429 / 978-0374213428
Poetry.

2017

DEATH

Derek Walcott died at his home near Gros Islet, St. Lucia, on March 17, 2017.

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