SOURCE: Walcott, Derek, and Rose Styron. “Derek Walcott: An Interview by Rose Styron.” American Poetry Review 26 (May-June 1997): 41-46.

In the following interview, conducted in January 1995 with poet and journalist Rose Styron, Walcott discusses the influences of multiculturalism on the creation and appreciation of literature.

[Styron]: So let's start at the beginning: tell me a bit about your early childhood on St. Lucia—your first memories, or your parents in this multi-racial, multi-cultural group of islands—where you went to school, and how you started writing poetry.

[Walcott]: I was born here, not far from where I am now, near the sea, up at Becune Point. I was born in the very small town of Castries, which is the capital of St. Lucia. My mother was a school teacher and a widow. I have a twin brother and a sister.

I think my mother's encouragement obviously, and because of...