The U.S. Postal Service will issue the 34th stamp in the Literary Arts series, honoring novelist Saul Bellow (1915–2005). Bellow was the recipient of three National Book Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, and the Nobel Prize. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest authors of the 20th century. In his novels, he took on large themes, including the pressures of modern material culture, the role of the artist in modern society, and the nature of American identity.

A ceremony will take place Tuesday, February 6, at the University of Chicago where Bellow taught and his papers are archived. The Ceremony will be at the Social Science Research Building’s Tea Room, Room 201, 1126 East 59th Street, Chicago from 11: 00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Speakers include Chicago/Illinois 1 District Postal Service leadership, and University of Chicago faculty members and guests.  University of Chicago speakers include: Torsten Reimer, University Librarian and Dean of the University Library, Gabriel Richardson Lear, Chair of the Committee on Social Thought, Professor of Philosophy and in the Committee on Social Thought, and David Wellbery, LeRoy T. and Margaret Deffenbaugh Carlson University Professor of Germanic Studies, in the Committee on Social Thought, and in the College.

Saul Bellow received the National Book Award three times—for The Adventures of Augie March (1953), Herzog (1964), and Mr. Sammler’s Planet (1970). More critically acclaimed novels followed, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning Humboldt’s Gift (1975).  In 1976, Bellow was honored with the Nobel Prize in Literature “for the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work." The National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by the U.S. government, was bestowed on him in 1988. In 1990, the National Book Foundation awarded him the Lifetime Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.  Later in his career, Bellow combined writing with teaching positions at various universities, including the University of Chicago—where he worked for more than 30 years and his papers are archived.

Saul Bellow died in Brookline, Massachusetts, on April 5, 2005.

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