Derek Walcott was born on 23rd January 1930 in Castries, St Lucia. His mother was a teacher who helped him to publish his first volume of poetry, while his father was a painter who died when Walcott was one year old. Studying at St. Mary’s College and educated at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, Walcott gained a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1948 his first small volume of poems was published and he began writing more poetry and plays. A year later his play Henry Christophe was produced and he was awarded the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship to study drama in the United States of America. As a young man Walcott taught in St Lucia, Jamaica and Grenada. From 1959-1979 he ran the Little Carib Theatre Workshop in Port of Spai

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First published 08 January 2001

Citation: Fulford, Sarah. "Derek Walcott". The Literary Encyclopedia. 8 January 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4575, accessed 9 February 2010.]