Stephen Vincent Benét facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Stephen Vincent Benét
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Benét at Yale College in 1919
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| Born | July 22, 1898 Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | March 13, 1943 (aged 44) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | Yale University (B.A.) |
| Period | 20th century |
| Genre | Poetry, short story, novel |
| Notable works | John Brown's Body (1929) The Devil and Daniel Webster (1936) By the Waters of Babylon (1937) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) (adapted from Benét's story The Sobbin' Women) |
| Notable awards | Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1929) O. Henry Award (1937) Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1944, posthumous) |
| Spouse |
Rosemary Carr
(m. 1921) |
| Children | Thomas, Stephanie, and Rachel |
| Relatives | William Rose Benét (brother) Laura Benét (sister) |
Stephen Vincent Benét (pronounced bə-NAY; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was a famous American writer. He wrote poetry, short stories, and novels. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his long poem about the American Civil War called John Brown's Body. He also wrote popular short stories like "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and "By the Waters of Babylon".
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Who Was Stephen Vincent Benét?
Stephen Vincent Benét was born on July 22, 1898, in Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania. His family had a history of serving in the United States Army. His father, James Walker Benét, was a colonel. His grandfather, also named Stephen Vincent Benét, was a brigadier general during the American Civil War.
Stephen Benét's Education and Early Writing
When he was about ten years old, Benét went to a military academy. He later graduated from Summerville Academy in Augusta, Georgia. He then attended Yale University, a well-known college.
At Yale, he was very involved with the Yale Lit, a student publication. He also wrote funny poems for The Yale Record, the campus humor magazine. Benét published his first book when he was only 17. He earned a master's degree in English by submitting his third book of poetry instead of a regular thesis.
Life in France and Marriage
In 1920, Benét traveled to France on a special fellowship from Yale. There, he met Rosemary Carr, who was also a writer and poet. They got married in Chicago in November 1921. Stephen and Rosemary even worked together on some writing projects.
In 1926, Benét received a Guggenheim Fellowship, which helped him live in Paris. While living there, he wrote his famous poem John Brown's Body.
Stephen Benét's Important Works
Stephen Vincent Benét was a very important writer. He helped choose new poets for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition. He was a judge for ten years and helped publish the first books of writers like James Agee and Margaret Walker. In 1929, he became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Awards and Famous Stories
Benét won the O. Henry Award three times for his short stories. He won for An End to Dreams in 1932, The Devil and Daniel Webster in 1937, and Freedom's a Hard-Bought Thing in 1940.
His fantasy story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" was so popular that other writers started making plays from it. So, Benét decided to create his own versions. He worked with composer Douglas Moore to turn it into an opera in 1937. He also wrote a play version in 1938 and helped write the screenplay for the 1941 movie All That Money Can Buy. He even wrote a sequel story called "Daniel Webster and the Sea Serpent."
Legacy and Influence
Stephen Vincent Benét passed away from a heart attack on March 13, 1943, in New York City. He was 44 years old. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Stonington, Connecticut. After his death, he was given another Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for Western Star, a long poem he hadn't finished.
Many of Benét's stories and poems have been adapted into other forms of art. His story "The Sobbin' Women" was turned into the musical film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in 1954. His play John Brown's Body was performed on Broadway in 1953.
The title of Dee Brown's famous book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee comes from the last line of Benét's poem "American Names."
Selected Works by Stephen Vincent Benét
- Five Men and Pompey, a series of dramatic portraits, Poetry, 1915
- Young Adventure: A book of Poems, 1918
- Heavens and Earth, 1920
- The Beginnings of Wisdom: A Novel, 1921
- Young People's Pride: A Novel, 1922
- Jean Huguenot: A Novel, 1923
- The Ballad of William Sycamore: A Poem, 1923
- King David: A two-hundred-line ballad in six parts, 1923
- Nerves, 1924 (A play, with John C. Farrar)
- That Awful Mrs. Eaton, 1924 (A play, with John C. Farrar)
- Tiger Joy: A Book of Poems, 1925
- The Mountain Whippoorwill: How Hill-Billy Jim Won the Great Fiddler's Prize: A Poem., 1925
- The Bat, 1926 (novelization of the play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood)
- Spanish Bayonet, 1926
- John Brown's Body, 1928
- The Barefoot Saint: A Short Story, 1929
- The Litter of Rose Leaves: A Short Story, 1930
- Abraham Lincoln, 1930 (screenplay with Gerrit Lloyd)
- Ballads and Poems, 1915–1930, 1931
- A Book of Americans, 1933 (with Rosemary Carr Benét, his wife)
- James Shore's Daughter: A Novel, 1934
- The Burning City, 1936 (includes 'Litany for Dictatorships')
- The Magic of Poetry and the Poet's Art, 1936
- The Devil and Daniel Webster, 1936
- By the Waters of Babylon, 1937
- The Headless Horseman: one-act play, 1937
- Thirteen O'Clock, 1937
- We Aren't Superstitious, 1937 (Essay on the Salem Witch Trials)
- Johnny Pye and the Fool Killer: A Short Story, 1938
- Tales Before Midnight: Collection of Short Stories, 1939
- The Ballad of the Duke's Mercy, 1939
- The Devil and Daniel Webster, 1939 (opera libretto with Douglas Moore)
- A Song of Three Soldiers, 1940
- Elementals, 1940–41 (broadcast)
- Freedom's Hard-Bought Thing, 1941 (broadcast)
- Listen to the People, 1941
- A Summons to the Free, 1941
- William Riley and the Fates, 1941
- Cheers for Miss Bishop, 1941 (screenplay with Adelaide Heilbron, Sheridan Gibney)
- The Devil and Daniel Webster, 1941 (screenplay with Dan Totheroh)
- Selected Works, 1942 (2 vols.)
- Short Stories, 1942
- Nightmare at Noon: Short Poem, 1942 (in The Treasury Star Parade, ed. by William A. Bacher)
- A Child is Born, 1942 (broadcast)
- They Burned the Books, 1942
- They Burned the Books, 1942 (broadcast)
These works were published after his death:
- Western Star, 1943 (unfinished)
- Twenty Five Short Stories, 1943
- America, 1944
- O'Halloran's Luck and Other Short Stories, 1944
- We Stand United, 1945 (radio scripts)
- The Bishop's Beggar, 1946
- The Last Circle, 1946
- Selected Stories, 1947
- From the Earth to the Moon, 1958
See also
In Spanish: Stephen Vincent Benét para niños
