The Film

Derek Walcott, Poetry is an island, is a feature documentary film about Nobel laureate, poet, playwright, and visual artist, Derek Alton Walcott (1930). The film depicts an intimate portrait of Walcott, as we visit his art studio, his childhood home, and his current residence in St. Lucia. It also includes exclusive archive material from the Nobel Prize Festivities in 1992. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this film is about Walcott’s poetry.

About the Film

In Poetry is an island  we share Caribbean moments with Walcott as we visit some of his favorite places, his studio, and St. Lucia home. We travel through St. Lucia and encounter childhood friends whose ‘lives became poetry’ through Walcott’s work. We discover the anger and frustration that the poet holds against the downtime of the arts as he talks to us about the meaning of poetry to him personally, and about the significance of art for humanity. Family members reveal some of the poet’s life challenges, and people who have worked with him speak frankly about their experiences with Walcott. Poetry is an island is an intimate portrait of the man, the poet, and son of the Caribbean: Derek Walcott.