Which Nobel laureate wrote the epic poem 'Omeros'?

The Nobel laureate who wrote the epic poem Omeros is Derek Walcott.

Published in 1990, Omeros is Walcott’s large-scale reimagining of Homeric epic in a Caribbean setting. Its central world is Saint Lucia, where fishermen named Achille and Hector, a woman named Helen, and other island residents echo figures from the Iliad without simply reproducing Homer’s plot.

The poem is divided into seven books and 64 chapters. Its narrative moves between Saint Lucia, Brookline, Massachusetts, Africa, Europe, and different historical periods, including the eighteenth-century colonial history of the Caribbean. Walcott also appears as a self-conscious narrator, making the poem partly autobiographical.

A common mix-up is assuming that Omeros was written by Homer because its title resembles “Homer.” Instead, Walcott uses Homeric names and themes to explore colonialism, migration, memory, and Caribbean identity. Walcott won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992, two years after Omeros appeared.