Profiles: Heroes, Role Models and Pioneers of Trinidad and Tobago - by Nasser Khan

186 DEREK WALCOTT (1930-2017) D erek Walcott is an author and poet who was born in St. Lucia. After studying at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, Walcott moved to Trinidad in 1953, where he worked as a theatre and art critic. In 1959, he founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop which produced many of his early plays. He taught literature and writing at Boston University in the United States for more than two decades. He published new books of poetry and plays on a regular basis and retired in 2007. In 2009, Walcott began a three-year distinguished scholar-in-residence position at the University of Alberta. In 2010, he became Professor of Poetry at the University of Essex. There is a special collection of his material at UWI, St. Augustine. Notable works: Omeros (1990); In a Green Night: Poems 1948-1960 (1962); White Egrets (2010). • 1969 Hummingbird Medal Gold • 1971 Obie Award for Best Foreign Play, for Dream on Monkey Mountain • 1972 OBE 1981 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (“genius award”) • 1988 Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry • 1990 Arts Council of Wales International Writers Prize • 1990 W. H. Smith Literary Award for Omeros (poetry) • 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature • 1993 Trinity Cross • 2008 Honorary doctorate from the University of Essex • 2011 T. S. Eliot Prize for White Egrets (poetry) • 2011 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature for White Egrets NEWSPAPERS: - Trinidad Courant, weekly, started in 1797 by M. Gallagher - Trinidad Guardian, daily, started in 1917 - Trinidad Express, daily, started in 1967 - Newsday, daily, started in 1993, by Daniel Chookolingo - Bomb/1970, Punch/1972, TNT Mirror, weeklies, all started by Patrick Chookolingo