| St Lucia is known for more than just beautiful and | | | | who were brought over to harvest sugar, a key |
| perfect weddings. The island is also the birthplace of | | | | export commodity of the Caribbean for 500 years, |
| two Nobel prizewinners, Sir W. Arthur Lewis, who won | | | | give the island its flavor today. The island was often |
| the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1979, and the poet | | | | contested by the British and the French, and the |
| Derek Walcott, who won the 1992 Nobel Prize for | | | | former eventually prevailed, making St Lucia the British |
| Literature. According to Lewis, developing countries' | | | | protectorate that it is today. However, French culture |
| industrial wages begin to rise quickly at the point when | | | | maintains a strong presence on the island. French art, |
| the supply of surplus labor from the countryside tapers | | | | music, dance and language - in the form of Creole |
| off. During his long academic career he remained | | | | patois - are all integral components to the cultural |
| committed to his native island and was buried in 1991 in | | | | mosaic of St Lucia. |
| the grounds of the St Lucian community college | | | | Added to the mix were South Asian (East Indian) |
| named in his honor. | | | | migrants who were recruited as indentured servants |
| The poet Derek Walcott is renowned as a master of | | | | on St Lucia. While no distinct South Asian community |
| magic-realism, and became a master of Homeric | | | | remains, their contribution to the island can be found in |
| poetic traditions, merging Greek myths with those of | | | | the cuisine served at some of the finest resorts and |
| Africa, the American West, Canada, and, of course, | | | | hotels. A St Lucia honeymoon is more than an |
| the Caribbean, and it is said that his writing is | | | | opportunity to bask on a white sand beach in the |
| representative of the hybridization of Caribbean culture. | | | | shade of the majestic Piton peaks. It's an opportunity |
| The Caribbean island has long been a crossroads of | | | | to bask in an established and complex culture that |
| different cultures. Early European explorers were | | | | offers much to those who seek it out, just outside the |
| greeted by indigenous Arawak inhabitants, and African | | | | door of their Caribbean hotel. |