{"id":50505,"date":"2017-03-19T13:07:07","date_gmt":"2017-03-19T13:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/?p=50505"},"modified":"2017-03-19T17:49:58","modified_gmt":"2017-03-19T17:49:58","slug":"loss-of-derek-walcott-a-nobel-laureate-from-st-lucia-respected-globally-is-mourned-by-the-caribbean-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=50505","title":{"rendered":"Loss Of Derek Walcott, A Nobel Laureate From St. Lucia Respected Globally, Is Mourned By The Caribbean Writer"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. CROIX — The Caribbean Writer (<\/em>TCW) has announced the mourning of its esteemed founding editorial board member, Nobel Prize Winner, Playwright, Poet and Artist, Derek Walcott, who passed away early Friday, said Alscess Lewis-Brown, editor of The Caribbean Writer<\/em>, a refereed, international journal published by the University of the Virgin Islands annually. Mr. Walcott was 87.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalcott\u2019s meticulously woven metaphorical poems and plays captured the essence and spirit of Caribbean expressivity across a spectrum of Caribbean political and social consciousness,” Ms. Lewis-Brown said. “His support and insight helped to shape and guide The Caribbean Writer\u2019s<\/em> path over the past thirty years. \u00a0For this, we are grateful. We will miss his abiding frank and witty manner. He was a great advocate for the Caribbean.”<\/p>\n

Ms. Lewis-Brown said that in an interview with Mr. Walcott in 2014 from his home in St. Lucia, in response to her question about his thoughts on what might be considered idealism in the notion of pulling the fragments of the Caribbean together, Mr. Walcott said: \u201cEverywhere has division in all countries. I don\u2019t know what the division comes from, but of course there is a difference in things: difference in pronunciation, accent, and stuff like that. Even in little St. Croix there is a division between Christiansted and Frederiksted. Each island has different qualities assigned to it by other islands. However, I think that regionally we are coming together through the products of our creative imagination. The Caribbean Writer<\/em> is a good example of that effort. So, no, I don\u2019t think we are being idealistic when we talk about pulling the fragments of the Caribbean together. Poets are doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

UVI Professor and The Caribbean Writer<\/em> Editorial Board Member Dr. Vincent Cooper, fondly recalls that during the 1970s Mr. Walcott either directed or provided advice on the staging of several of his plays in the Virgin Islands. Between 1973 and 1978, he directed scenes from Dream on Monkey Mountain, The Charlatan, <\/em>and Franklyn<\/em> on \u00a0St. Croix, and later that year on St. Thomas. In 1974, he directed Ti Jean and his Brothers<\/em> on St. Croix and on St. Thomas, as well as on Tortola. In April 1977, he directed Remembrance<\/em> on both islands. During the Fall of 1978, he directed Pantomime<\/em> on both islands. Throughout the Fall of 1979, Mr. Walcott taught a seminar on Tirso de Molina\u2019s The Trickster of Seville<\/em> (El Burlador de Sevilla) and his adaptation of Molina\u2019s play, The Joker of Seville<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Mr. Walcott also spent part of the summer of 1979 revising his new play, Marie Laveau<\/em>, while residing at the University of the Virgin Islands (then known as\u00a0 CVI) campus. \u00a0Tirso de Molina\u2019s The Trickster of Seville<\/em> and Derek Walcott\u2019s adaptation, The Joker of Seville<\/em>, as well as Mr. Walcott\u2019s musical, Marie Laveau<\/em> were first produced at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas in November 1979.<\/p>\n

Author and Poet Edgar Lake, another TCW editorial board member, recalls his presence at a Walcott poetry reading in New York Public Library in a poem entitled, \u201cWalcott Reads to Brodsky\u2019s God Mother\u201d published in Calabash<\/em>, a journal of Caribbean arts and letters in 2007.\u00a0\u00a0 The following is an excerpt from Lake\u2019s poem:<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2026He reaches for his poems, curled in a coat-pocket \u2013 and begins to read, the lady shifts her weight, and clamps her feet about her bags, Walcott\u00a0 caught his breath and leapfrogs to another page He\u2019s accustomed to this silence, pigeons caught in eaves some simile, once winged, and now fretting for the rhyme Walcott, litany-voiced, free-verses about sea-grapes\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWalcott has had a long history with the University of the Virgin Islands and The Caribbean Writer<\/em>,\u201d said Emily A. Williams, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. \u201cOur writers and scholars have been enriched by their drinks at his intellectual and artistic fount. May the spirit of his creative genius continue to inspire us all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ST. CROIX — The Caribbean Writer (TCW) has announced the mourning of its esteemed founding editorial board member, Nobel Prize Winner, Playwright, Poet and Artist, Derek Walcott, who passed away early Friday, said Alscess Lewis-Brown, editor of The Caribbean Writer, a refereed, international journal published by the University of the Virgin Islands annually. Mr. Walcott […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":50506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[116,191,2693,147],"tags":[6623],"yoast_head":"\nLoss Of Derek Walcott, A Nobel Laureate From St. Lucia Respected Globally, Is Mourned By The Caribbean Writer - V.I. 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