Derek Walcott Cambridge Studies in African and Caribbean Literature Series

Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott is one of the Caribbean's most famous writers. His unique voice in poetry, drama and criticism is shaped by his position at the crossroads between Caribbean, British and American culture and by his interest in hybrid identities and diaspora. Edward Baugh's Derek Walcott analyses and evaluates Walcott's entire career over the last fifty years. Baugh guides the reader through the continuities and differences of theme and style in Walcott's poems and plays. Walcott is an avowedly Caribbean writer, acutely conscious of his culture and colonial heritage, but he has also made a lasting contribution to the way we read and value the western literary tradition. This comprehensive survey considers each of Walcott's published books, offering a guide for students, scholars and readers of Walcott. Students of Caribbean and postcolonial studies will find this a perfect introduction to this important writer.

Chronology; 1. Walcott, writing and the Caribbean: issues and directions; 2. Connections and separations: from 25 Poems to The Gulf; 3. 'What a man is:' Dream on Monkey Mountain and Other Plays, The Haitian Trilogy and Franklin; 4. 'Is there that I born:' Another Life, Sea Grapes, The Star-Apple Kingdom; 5. The challenge of change: the dramatist after Dream; 6. 'Here' and 'elsewhere,' 'word' and 'world:' The Fortunate Traveller, Midsummer, The Arkansas Testament; 7. Narrative variations: Omeros, The Odyssey, The Bounty, Tiepolo's Hound; 8. Homecoming: The Prodigal; Select bibliography; Index.