Omeros by Derek Walcott — Saint Lucia's Nobel laureate retells the Odyssey on the streets of Castries and the fishing villages of the west coast. Difficult, beautiful, and full of recognisable places — read it before you walk through Derek Walcott Square.
Another Life by Derek Walcott — A long autobiographical poem about Walcott's childhood and apprenticeship in Castries in the 1940s and 50s. More accessible than Omeros and the best evocation in print of mid-century Saint Lucian life.
Sir Arthur Lewis: A Biography by Robert L. Tignor — The other Nobel laureate. Lewis grew up in Castries and went on to win the 1979 Nobel Prize in Economics. The biography is short on Saint Lucia but useful context.
The Star-Apple Kingdom by Derek Walcott — An earlier collection of poems with the long title piece on the Caribbean's colonial inheritance. Read on the ferry between islands.