Nobel Laureate Week Wraps Up

NOBEL Laureate Week comes to an end this weekend following several activities to highlight the achievements of Saint Lucia’s two Nobel Prize-winners, Sir Arthur Lewis and Derek Walcott.

Since January 17, events have been held across the island, many of which Walcott now 86 has attended. On many of those occasions he has expressed gratitude to organizers, especially the Nobel laureate Committee, which is chaired by Governor-General Dame Pearlette Louisy.

Some of the main highlights during the past week were the official opening of the newly-renovated Walcott family home on Chaussee Road, an evening of poetry with Walcott at Government House, the Derek Walcott Lecture and the Sir Arthur Lewis Memorial Lecture.

Despite being a packed two weeks, especially with some events clashing time-wise, the feedback from both the organizers and audiences has been positive. Many described the opening of Walcott House last Sunday as historic bolstered by the fact that Walcott, had been able to see the dream of his former childhood home transform into a museum.

On Monday evening, acclaimed American poet, Rosanna Warren, joined British poet and former Walcott student at Boston University, Glynn Maxwell, as they read some of their poems. The evening was an intimate one – not just for the varied intensities of the poets’ words but also because of Walcott, who told the audience about the duty all poets must uphold in taking on society’s issues.

This year the Derek Walcott Lecture was delivered by Professor Rosanna Warren on Tuesday evening. Warren gave the National Cultural Centre audience more than a poetic earful as she presented on the topic, “Poetry and the Powers: A focus on the political and poetic power in Derek’s ‘Midsummer’.

Walcott published “Midsummer”, in 1984. The collection of 54 numbered poems (he was 54 years old at the time) dealt with a litany of problems by which the writer was confronted for over two decades, including his relationship as a Caribbean colonial to European culture and literary traditions.

Internationally-renowned Saint Lucian economist, Dr. Hyginus Leon, delivered the Sir Arthur Lewis Memorial Lecture on Thursday evening at the National Cultural Centre. He focused his presentation on identifying the opportunities that some small island states like Saint Lucia miss out on by not capitalizing on their comparative advantages in key sectors.

According to Dr. Leon, knowledge gained needs to be applied effectively in order to add value to goods and services. He cited Singapore, a small country with limited natural resources, which has been able to use its comparative advantage in key sectors to become an economic powerhouse, aided by developmental theories coined by the late Sir Arthur Lewis.