L2L Anna Akhmatova and Derek Walcott (ft. Barbara Fertig)

Poetry of Anna Akhmatova and Derek Walcott

“A single, homeless, circling satellite …”

It’s hard to think of two poets from more different circumstances than Derek Walcott and Anna Akhmatova, yet Walcott’s words, quoted above, are an accurate description of how each of them navigated their lives.

Walcott, born and educated in the Caribbean, grappled with the conflicting forces in West Indian culture; Akhmatova, a recognized poet and heiress before the revolution, lived with the Soviet hostility to both. Each, when they looked beyond their surroundings, contributed sharp insights into what it means to be human.

Leigh Rich is away accomplishing significant academic endeavors. This week Barbara Fertig, professor emerita of history, joins P. T. Bridgeport for an exploration of the poetry of these two titans.