Which Literary Period Derek Walcott Belong

A conversation with Derek Walcott

What is it like being in Nigeria?

This is my first trip to Africa thanks to Wole Soyinka. [The] Africa I always imagined is not a city like Lagos. It's a big sprawling city so it doesn't feel like Africa; it feels very Caribbean, which is okay. I haven't been out much, I've been in most of the time, so I really can't give an opinion, I've been in town just a few days but the people are terrific, very fine.

You say it feels more like the Caribbean, why do you think that is?

Because... a lot of obvious reasons, the people are black, they are from Africa anyway, their architecture is very similar to say, Port of Spain, parts of Lagos looks like... It could be Jamaica, could be Port of Spain, it could be my home.

Why has it taken you this long to come to the African continent?

Well, I don't remember being invited [and] I don't go where I'm not invited. I did have a couple of invitations, but the concept is a long journey. The time when I might have been invited... the idea of flying; everybody flies now but there were days when you thought: I have to fly to Africa.

I went to London and spent X number of hours to cross the Atlantic, but it's still a big deal, I'm flying tomorrow, it's going to be tiring.

How has it been since winning the Nobel Prize? How do you think it's changed you as a writer?

I hope it hasn't changed me as a writer. It has led to a lot of invitations all over the world which I take because I like to see things. And principally, that's how it's been; invitations from Japan, Sweden...

What kind of things are you writing now, what kind of things are you concerned about now in your writings?

I'm working on some screenplays now; I've been rehearsing them on video. There is a fable I did, called ‘Ti-Jean and His Brothers' that I'm trying to film. I'm very interested in films because I paint and I write and it's a proper medium for both occupations.

What do you think are the interactions or differences between painting and writing a poem?