Authors 2008

Derek Walcott

“Derek Walcott was born on the island of Saint Lucia, in the parts where “the sun, tired of the empire, declines”. As it does, however, it heats up a far greater crucible of races and cultures than any melting pot north of the equator. The realm this poet comes from is a real genetic Babel; English however is its tongue. If at times Walcott writes in Creole patois, its not to flex his stylistic muscle or to enlarge his audience but as a homage to what he spoke as a child- before he spiraled the tower.” Joseph Brodsky

Derek Walcott, Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1992, baptized Babel in 2006 with his theatrical rendition of the Odyssey; this year presents his selection of poetry soon to be released by Adelphi.

Matteo Campagnoli

Poet and translator. His texts have been published in «Poesia», «Lo Specchio» and «Il Corriere della Sera», in England in «Agenda», in the USA in «Epiphany» and in Switzerland in «La Regione Ticino». He has worked along side Walcott for the trilingual stage production of the Odyssey: A Stage Version (Mario Luzi Prize 2007). He is currently completing his first collection of poems and organizing a selection of Walcott’s poems for Adelphi.