Laureate's family debuts Walcott poetry prize

The Derek Walcott Festival in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and Arrowsmith Press, together with the Boston Playwrights' Theatre, announces the first annual Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry.

It will be awarded to a full-length book of poems by a living poet who is not a US citizen (green-card holders welcome) published in the previous calendar year.

The prize includes a $1,000 cash award, along with a reading at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre in Boston, the publication of a limited-edition broadside by Arrowsmith Press, and a week-long residency either in Derek Walcott’s home in St Lucia or in Port of Spain.

The book may be in English or in translation and may have been published anywhere in the world. In the case of translations, the prize will be shared by the poet and the translator.

In 2019, the Walcott Festival showcased an exhibition of oils and watercolour paintings as well as storyboards by the Nobel laureate; fully subscribed writing workshops with playwright Kate Snodgrass and poet Ishion Hutchinson; as well as a panel discussion at Medulla Art Gallery; and a poetry reading hosted by the Australian High Commission in April and May.

In September (26-29) Ti Jean & His Brothers opens at Queen’s Hall. Written by Walcott, the play will be directed by Wendell Manwarren and feature music by Andre Tanker.

Anna Walcott-Hardy, co-executor of the Walcott estate, said recently, “My sister Elizabeth and I are truly honoured and excited about the annual Derek Walcott Prize for poetry, which will give poets worldwide an opportunity to have their work published and showcased. Our father always remembered the help he got and believed strongly in supporting up-and-coming writers. He founded the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre in 1981 at Boston University – it’s an award-winning professional theatre dedicated to new works, and we look forward to attending the readings there, as well as hosting the winner in Trinidad and St Lucia. Our special thanks to Kate Snodgrass and Askold Melnyczuk for making this a reality and to the dedicated committee of the festival.”

Walcott (January 23, 1930-March 17, 2017) was a St Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem Omeros (1990), which many critics view as his major achievement.

Walcott received many literary awards over the course of his career, including an Obie Award in 1971 for his play Dream on Monkey Mountain, a MacArthur Foundation "genius" award, a Royal Society of Literature Award, the Queen's Medal for Poetry, the inaugural OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the 2011 TS Eliot Prize for his book of poetry White Egrets and the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry Lifetime Recognition Award in 2015.

Publishers are invited to enter books published between January 1 and December 31, 2019. Submissions must be received by February 15, 2020. There is a US$20 submission fee. Two hard copies of the book should be mailed to Arrowsmith Press, 11 Chestnut Street, Medford, MA 02155. The winner will be announced in May, and a reading will be scheduled for October, 2020. Arrowsmith Press was founded by Askold Melnyczuk in 2006.

Further information on submitting can be found at the Derek Walcott website.