Ex-St Lucia PM:Walcott was no elitist poet

He was speaking during an interview with Newsday on Friday night at a memorial tribute to Walcott held at the National Cultural Centre, Castries, St Lucia.

“I think for the performance tonight Derek was brought alive and what was particularly touching was the selection by the various artistes and the various groups and once again it demonstrated how connected Derek really was to the St Lucian people, to the St Lucian landscape.” Anthony continued: “He understood the soul of this country, the spirit of this country. And a lot of people I think thought that this soul was expressed purely through his poetry but they never understood that he had a very real contact.

He was not a poet that was remote and disconnected. He was a poet that made contact with ordinary lives and he was anxious to tell the story of ordinary people.” “It is a little unfortunate that sometimes he is seen as an elitist poet. But he never was because he emerged from the crucible of the St Lucian experience and that has always been his legacy. And tonight I think the performance was extraordinary and the performance allowed us to review and share the poet that we have always known.” Walcott, an acclaimed poet and playwright, died on March 17 at the age of 87. On Friday night his memorial tribute was attended by Governor-General of St Lucia Dame Pearlette Louisy, Cabinet ministers, members of academia, regional poets and artists as well as representatives of the arts community from St Lucia, the Caribbean and internationally. Those attending from Trinidad and Tobago included Culture Minister Dr Nyah Gadsby-Dolly, Trinidad Theatre Workshop artistic director Albert Laveau - Walcott founded the workshop during his time in Trinidad - and two members of rapso group 3canal Wendell Manwarren and Roger Roberts.

Tributes were paid to Walcott in the form of remarks, traditional dance, drumming, steelpan, singing, including songs in St Lucian creole, recitation of his poetry and theatre performances.

A representative from the St Lucia arts community, Mc Donald Dixon, said that great poets do not happen by accident and described Walcott as a “living legend” who had gone into immortality.

“He loved St Lucia without reproach down to the last grain of dust.” He added that Walcott “lives on within his pages.” Ghanaian poet and critic Kwame Dawes gave a literary performance and of Walcott’s death recited “oh world, oh world, oh world we have lost.” A speech was also read on behalf of Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland and in it, she praised Walcott’s ingenuity and drive to pursue greatness.

“He felt like he belonged to all of us,” she added.

St Lucian actor and cultural activist George “Fish” Alphonse performed a satirical piece about the auctioning off St Lucia’s natural assets. One woman in the audience said it was a piece that Walcott would have liked.

Other performance included a recitation of his poem “Oddjob, A Bull Terrier”, St Lucian calypsonian Aloysius “Mighty Pep” Bruet performing his tribute song to Walcott and a dramatic presentation of the poems Oddjob, Sea Grapes and Love After Love by students of his alma mater Saint Mary’s College.

Trinidadian-Bahamian poet Christian Campbell in a literary performance said that Walcott “believed so very deeply for us” and “believed in the Caribbean.” “He more than anyone else shows us the infinite in the infinitesimal,” he said.

Campbell added: “Even in your stillness, you are moving still.