Of Derek Walcott and Smear Campaigns

Jamaica Observer

Politics can be dirty. But few people realise that the world of academia can be even more cut-throat. Proof came this week when the St Lucian-born Nobel laureate Derek Walcott was forced to drop out of the race to become Oxford professor of poetry because of a vicious whispering campaign against him.

Derek Walcott is one of the most distinguished writers of his generation and only the second Caribbean writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. The Nobel committee said, "He has a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment." President Barack Obama is a fan of Walcott and was photographed with a book of his poetry. The position of the Oxford University professor of poetry is 300 years old and one of the most illustrious positions in the world of literature. Past holders of the post have included some of the finest poets of the 20th century like WH Auden. Unusually the post is not appointed but elected. All Oxford academics have a vote and (in theory) any of the 135,000 graduates. All they have to do is turn up in person on the day.

The contest started very happily. Derek Walcott's campaign organiser was the president of Wolfson College, Professor Hermione Lee. She enthused, "I think that it would be a wonderful, extraordinary opportunity for Oxford to have a Nobel Prize-winning poet. We have a Caribbean prize-winning poet up against the first woman candidate. That is two firsts. It's now a matter of drumming up support." But the supporters of Walcott's female opponent stand accused of spreading rumours about a twenty-year-old allegation of sexual harassment. The whispering campaign culminated in the anonymous circulation of a dossier accusing Walcott of being a sex pest.

The dossier details allegations made against Walcott by a female student he was teaching at Harvard in 1982. She said that after the class he invited her for coffee, asked whether she had a boyfriend and how she made love. She claimed that he went on to ask, "Imagine me making love to you. What would I do?" She apparently raised her complaints when she was aggrieved about the low grade that he gave her at the end of the course. Another allegation was made by a female student at Boston University in 1996 who decided to sue him. They reached a settlement.

Allegations of sexual harassment by white women against a black man are always explosive. But despite that, Walcott's supporters rallied to him.

They pointed out that these allegations were twenty years old, that Walcott would be required to give lectures, not tutorials, behind closed doors and, above all, that the professor of poetry should be elected because of the quality of his writing, not his morals. Professor Hermione Lee said, "The fact that this has been anonymously circulated is rather shocking. It is an unpleasant way of carrying on. Should great poets who behave badly be locked away from social interaction? We are acting as purveyors of poetry, not of chastity."

However, this week Walcott decided to pull out of the contest altogether. He said, "I am disappointed that such low tactics have been used in this election, and I do not want to get into a race for a post where it causes embarrassment to those who have chosen to support me for the role or to myself. I already have a great many work commitments, and while I was happy to be put forward for the post, if it has degenerated into a low and degrading attempt at character assassination, I do not want to be part of it." In relation to the specific allegations he added, "What happened 20 years ago I have never commented upon and have never given my side of what happened. This will continue to be the case."

Now that Walcott has pulled out, there have been calls to postpone the election. He was seen as such a certainty for the position that other high-quality candidates did not bother to go for it. Consequently, the other candidate may be elected virtually by default.

It is sad to see such a brilliant man brought low by twenty-year-old allegations. And it is Oxford University's loss. But maybe Derek Walcott can write a poetic epic about it.

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