Stephen Vincent Benét

Benét’s father was a US military officer with a strong interest in literature. Benét spent his childhood moving between army bases, and his older brother and sister were also writers. He published his first poetry collection as a 17-year-old freshman at Yale University. During WWI, Benét left college for a year of civilian military service, but eventually returned to Yale to earn both a BA and an MA in English. In 1920, he traveled to Paris, where he met his future wife, Rosemary Carr. The couple returned to Paris in 1925. A prolific writer across many genres, Benét is best known for his poetry, novels, and short stories, but he also wrote screenplays, radio broadcasts, and even an opera libretto. Benét’s writing often focuses on historical and folkloric themes, and his 1937 short story “The Devil and Daniel Webster” and his 1928 epic poem “John Brown’s Body” are among his best known works. Benét died in New York after a heart attack at the age of 44.