Voting Station

Derek Walcott

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Poet

The Resume

    (January 23, 1930-March 17, 2017)
    Born in Castries, Saint Lucia
    Poet and playwright
    Founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop (1959)
    Published the poetry collections 'Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos' (1949), 'In a Green Night' (1962), 'The Castaway and Other Poems' (1965), 'The Gulf and Other Poems' (1969), 'Another Life' (1973), 'Sea Grapes' (1976), 'The Fortunate Traveller' (1981), 'The Arkansas Testament' (1987), 'Omeros' (1990), 'The Bounty' (1997), 'Tiepolo's Hound' (2000) and 'The Prodigal' (2004)
    Wrote the plays 'Henri Christophe' (1950), 'Drums and Colors' (1958), 'Dream On Monkey Mountain' (1967), 'O Babylon!' (1976), 'Odyssey: A Stage Version' (1993) and 'Walker and the Ghost Dance' (2002)
    Wrote lyrics for the Paul Simon musical 'The Capeman' (1998)
    Won the Nobel Prize in Literature (1992)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was married and divorced three times.
    While teaching a poetry workshop at Harvard, he asked a student to 'imagine me making love to you,' then gave her a C after she refused his advances (1982).
    After being reprimanded by Harvard, he argued that teaching poetry often required 'deliberately personal and intense' relationships with students.
    He settled out of court a Boston University student's lawsuit for 'offensive sexual physical contact' (1996).

Why he might not be annoying:

    His adaptation of Homer's Odyssey was staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company to sold out London audiences (1993).
    Fellow Nobelist Joseph Brodsky said the West Indies were 'discovered by Columbus, colonized by the British and immortalized by Walcott.'
    He tells interviewers, 'If anybody uses the word 'multiculturalism,' I'm walking out of the room.'
    Three days after winning the presidential election, Barack Obama was photographed carrying a book of his poems.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 28 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 42 Votes: 61.90% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 15 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 15 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 18 Votes: 61.11% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying