Grange: Walcott’s Passing a Great Loss to the Region

Kingston, March 17, 2017 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange has described Derek Walcott, the St Lucian Nobel Laureate who passed away today (Friday) as a “literary giant.”

Reacting to news of Walcott’s death, Minister Grange said the poet was “an important voice for the people of the Caribbean whom he loved so deeply” and that his passing “represents a great loss to the region.”

Minister Grange recalled Walcott’s “excellence as a writer” and his “close connect to Jamaica” where he was an Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Jamaica, taught at Jamaica College and wrote for the Public Opinion.

Minister Grange has, on behalf of the Government and people of Jamaica, extended condolences to Walcott’s family and the Government and people of St Lucia.