This succinct account the life of Nobel laureate Derek Walcott focuses on his development as poet, playwright and man of the theatre: director, producer, teacher. Friends and colleagues who figured in his career are recalled. The importance of his native St Lucia and family influences in the shaping of his creativity and his view of the world are highlighted, as these evolved in synergy with his receptivity to the poetry and theatre of the wider world. In this evolution, the tensions and complex nuances of the concept “home” are seen as an informing factor. The story points to Walcott’s seminal contribution to the emergence of Caribbean literature, with his response to the region’s colonial history as a central factor. Review of the hardback: 'Baugh presents a study of each of Walcott's published books and this volume can therefore be seen as a valuable introductory tool for students, scholars and readers of Walcott's work, as well as being useful to those engaged in Caribbean and postcolonial studies.' British Bulletin of Publications 'Baugh presents a study of each of Walcott's published books and this volume can therefore be seen as a valuable introductory tool for students, scholars and readers of Walcott's work, as well as being useful to those engaged in Caribbean and postcolonial studies.' British Bulletin of Publications EDWARD BAUGH is Professor Emeritus of English, the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. His publications on Walcott include Derek Walcott: Memory as Vision – “Another Life”, Derek Walcott and an annotated edition of Walcott’s Another Life (co-edited with Colbert Nepaulsingh). He is also the author of Frank Collymore: A Biography and the poetry collections A Tale from the Rainforest, It Was the Singing and Black Sand . CHAPTER 1 Derek Walcott has given words of caution for anyone who undertakes his biography. His essay “On Robert Lowell” begin: “Biographies of poets are hard to believe. The moment they are published they become fiction, subject to the same symmetry of plot, incident, dialogue as the novel. The inarticulate wisdom of really knowing another person is not in the broad sweep of that other person’s life but in its gestures; and when the biography is about a poet the duty of giving his life a plot makes the poetry the subplot.”1 Later in the essay Walcott writes, with reference to Lowell: “But we have all done awful things, and most biographies that show the frightening side of their subjects have a way of turning us into moral hypocrites” ( Twilight , 97).