Derek Walcott is a poet of international stature: his work appeals to both academic and popular audiences and is read throughout the world. Immensely talented as a poet, he is also a fine dramatist, a thoughtful essayist and gifted painter.

Walcott's career coincides with the growth of an independent artistic culture in his native Caribbean, the shrugging off of colonial attitudes and the establishing of an indigenous identity - a struggle which is highly represented in his poetry. indeed Walcott has often led the debates towards, and shaped the development of, a Caribbean culture.

As his reputation reaches new heights with the publication of 'Omeros', this book provides a timely and stimulating review of Walcott's achievements as poet, playwright, cultural commentator and artist. It draws together critics from the Caribbean, Britain, America and Africa, representing the cultural divide across which Walcott writes, to produce a fascinating account of his work.

Stewart Brown has taught in Jamaica, Nigeria and Britain. He is now a lecturer at the Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham. He is the editor of several anthologies of Caribbean literature, including critical work on Derek Walcott and E.K. Brathwaite.