There is a substantial body of work by a writer who was one of St Lucia’s most outstanding dramatists and who was quite dominant among West Indian playwrights throughout the 1960s into the 1970s. His plays are widely published, they were in demand and have been consistently performed all around the Caribbean. This dramatist was at one time very prominent and active in the St Lucia Arts Guild. Yet he is hardly ever heard of, no one mentions him and there have recently been no noises raised in his memory.
There are many reasons why he should be famous, yet the primary one of those reasons is the main cause of his relegation. Roderick Walcott (1930 – 2000), foremost St Lucian and Caribbean playwright, is the forgotten Walcott.
There is every reason to celebrate him: he was the brother of the greatest poet in world literature today. Yet, for that very reason he has been overshadowed and existed as the pale light next to his illustrious brother. Roderick was the twin brother of Derek Walcott.
