Saul Bellow Gets a Stamp

First Day of Issue Ceremony will be at University of Chicago Library

Saul Bellow (1915-2005) was a writer, educator, and Nobel laureate.

First Day of Issue Ceremony for Postage Stamp Honoring Saul Bellow.

Author, University of Chicago professor, and Nobel laureate Saul Bellow will be remembered at the unveiling of the new U.S. postage stamp.

Date: February 6, 2024
Time: 11-11:30 a.m. CST
Location: Social Science Research Building, Tea Room, Room 201, 1126 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637

The 34th issuance in the Literary Arts series honors novelist Saul Bellow, winner of three National Book Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize, Bellow is widely regarded as one of the greatest authors of the 20th century. The stamp art is a portrait of Bellow in pen, ink and watercolor based on photographs from 1982. In the background is a street scene of Chicago, where he lived most of his life. Ethel Kessler, an art director for USPS, designed the 3- ounce stamp with original art by Joe Ciardiello.¹

Literary Arts Series

The Literary Arts series was begun by the US Postal Service in 1979. Other writers honored include:

Saul Bellow’s Papers

Saul Bellow’s papers—142.25 linear feet (256 boxes)— are at the University of Chicago.² The collection includes personal ephemera; correspondence; materials related to the creation and publication of his writings; writings by others given to or collected by Bellow; writings about Bellow's life and work; administrative and teaching materials from the University of Chicago and Boston University; awards; photographs and audio recordings; artwork, broadsides, and posters.

Saul Bellow, Nobel Prize in Literature 1976: Excerpt from his Nobel Prize lecture

1. First Day of Issue Ceremony for Postage Stamp Honoring Saul Bellow - The University of Chicago Library News - The University of Chicago Library (uchicago.edu);

Literary Arts Series, Mystic Stamp Company.

2. Guide to the Saul Bellow Papers 1926-2015. University of Chicago. Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center.