Omeros is an
epic poem by Caribbean writer
Derek Walcott, first published in 1990. The work is divided into seven "books" containing a total of sixty-four chapters. Many critics view
Omeros as Walcott's "major achievement." Soon after its publication in 1990, it received praise from publications like
The Washington Post and
The New York Times Book Review, the latter of which chose the book as one of its "Best Books of 1990" and called it "one of Mr. Walcott's finest poetic works." The book also won the
WH Smith Literary Award in 1991. In 1992, Walcott was also awarded the
Nobel Prize for Literature, and the Nobel committee member who presented the award, Professor
Kjell Espmark, singled out Walcott's most recent achievement at the time,
Omeros, recognizing the book as a "major work". Walcott painted the cover for the book, which depicts some of his main characters at sea together in a boat. In 2004, the critic
Hilton Als of
The New Yorker called the book "Walcott's masterpiece" and characterized the poem as "the perfect marriage of Walcott’s classicism and his nativism".