The Derek Walcott Library at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in St. Lucia has been added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Regional Register for Latin America and the Caribbean, a designation that highlights its cultural and literary significance.
The announcement came during the programme’s annual regional meeting, held this year in Lima and Cusco, Peru. Out of 71 nominations from 15 countries, 29 collections were approved for inscription, including the submission for the Derek Walcott Library.
UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme focuses on preserving documentary heritage that may be vulnerable to loss or deterioration. The new inscription recognizes the value of Sir Derek Walcott’s personal library, which offers insight into the Nobel Laureate’s creative influences and intellectual interests.
The collection includes Walcott’s original bookshelves, featuring works he authored, books gifted by peers and collaborators, and a wide mix of titles connected to Caribbean literature, theatre, art, history, and global culture. The library was donated to the college in 2020 by Sigrid Nama and is considered a key record of Walcott’s creative world and the conversations that helped shape his writing.
Sir Derek Alton Walcott was a St. Lucian poet, playwright and visual artist whose work earned him the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. Widely regarded as one of the Caribbean’s most influential literary voices, he explored themes of identity, colonialism and the region’s fractured histories through landmark works such as Omeros, Dream on Monkey Mountain and Ti-Jean and His Brothers. Walcott also co-founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop and spent decades teaching and mentoring writers across the Caribbean and the United States.
The Saint Lucia National Commission for UNESCO also noted the role of Kathy Birch-McDiarmed, head librarian of the Hunter J. Francois Library, who now serves as vice president of the Memory of the World Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean. Her work supports the preservation and promotion of documentary heritage throughout the region.
According to the commission, the new inscription underscores the importance of safeguarding the Derek Walcott Library and the wider literary memory it represents for St. Lucia, the Caribbean, and international scholars.
