Q3901

Literary Arts

Robert Penn Warren - Poet, Novelist, and Literary Critic

Cover Announcement 

This new stamp honors the first poet laureate of the United States. He was a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner in literature - twice for poetry and once for fiction. Depicted in my hand painted cachet are volumes of his winning poetry works - "Promises: Poems, 1954-1956" and "Now and Then: Poems,

1976-1978. " Also shown is his winning novel "All the King's Men" about the rise and fall of a 1930s Louisiana politician.

Waren was bom in Kentucky in 1905 and graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University. He earned his master's at the University of California and pursued advanced studies at Yale and Oxford. Poetry was his greatest love, and he is shown deep in thought in the cachet. The poet meshed his personal experiences and memories into thoughts of the meaning and signifrcance of life. He once wrote, "What is a poem but a hazardous attempt at self-understanding."

The talented writer was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980. He died in 1989 in West  Wardsboro, Vermont. In order to preserve as much space as possible for the cachet, I obtained the pictorial First Day of Issue postmark in a vertical position down the right side of the cover. The unusual configuration adds to the visual appeal. In memory of this gifted American poet and author, I offer this First Day Cover honoring Robert Penn Warren. Collins #Q3901 - $13.25.