A vibrant meditation on the difficult beauty of the Caribbean, taking the form of a dialogue between a Nobel Prize–winning poet and a renowned figurative painter Morning, Paramin offers us a stunning collaboration between a Nobel Prize–winning poet, Derek Walcott, and a renowned figurative painter, Peter Doig. It journeys through the physical and psychological landscapes of two lives, from the snowy landscapes of Edmonton to the sun-washed shores of the Caribbean, from the process of mourning a loved one to the experience of watching a film. Taking the form of a call-and-response, with paintings on one side and poetry on the other, Morning Paramin lets Walcott’s characteristic perception and wit shine through in his illuminating responses to Doig’s luminescent paintings. Both poems and paintings are triumphant celebrations of life’s pleasures and pains—loving, observing, aging. Walcott, born and living in St. Lucia, and Doig, living in Trinidad, engage in a powerful dialogue on the Caribbean’s colonial legacy, the politics of home and belonging, and the boundaries of art. A poignant exploration of a friendship and a vibrant meditation on the difficult beauty of the Caribbean, Morning, Paramin probes the boundaries of communication and celebrates the thrills of a shared language.
Author
Derek Walcott was a Caribbean poet, playwright, writer and visual artist. Born in Castries, St. Lucia, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 "for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment." His work, which developed independently of the schools of magic realism emerging in both South America and Europe at around the time of his birth, is intensely related to the symbolism of myth and its relationship to culture. He was best known for his epic poem Omeros, a reworking of Homeric story and tradition into a journey around the Caribbean and beyond to the American West and London. Walcott founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop in 1959, which has produced his plays (and others) since that time, and remained active with its Board of Directors until his death. He also founded Boston Playwrights' Theatre at Boston University in 1981. In 2004, Walcott was awarded the Anisfield-Wolf Lifetime Achievement Award, and had retired from teaching poetry and drama in the Creative Writing Department at Boston University by 2007. He continued to give readings and lectures throughout the world after retiring. He divided his time between his home in the Caribbean and New York City.
