Robert Penn Warren Biography
Robert Penn Warren, a successful novelist and poet, has been primarily remembered for his political morality tale All the King’s Men. The book, written in the 1940s, was far ahead of its time in depicting the Machiavellian dealings of Southern politician Willie Stark. The novel was so successful it spawned two film versions—a 1949 adaptation that won an Academy Award and a 2006 remake that was met with scathing reviews. Still, neither the highs nor the lows of those adaptations could affect the achievement of Warren’s seminal book. Warren’s background as poet is evident throughout the novel and deepens its rich characterizations, making Willie Stark one of the most unforgettable characters in twentieth-century literature.
Facts and Trivia
- Warren studied at some of the most highly regarded institutions of learning, including Vanderbilt, U.C. Berkeley, Yale, and most notably Oxford, where he was a Rhodes scholar.
- Warren penned his most famous work, All the King’s Men, while teaching at the University of Minnesota.
- In his youth, Warren was a member of two writers groups: The Fugitives and The Young Agrarians.
- As a young man, Warren wrote in favor of segregation. He later changed his beliefs and wrote numerous pieces in favor of the Civil Rights movement, including Who Speaks for the Negro, a collection that contained an interview with Malcolm X.
- Warren is the only writer to have won the Pulitzer Prize for both poetry and fiction.
Criticism by Robert Penn Warren
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Hemingway
A Farewell to Arms Criticism
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The Themes of Robert Frost
Robert Frost Criticism
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Introduction: Faulkner, Past and Present
William Faulkner Criticism
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'Blackberry Winter': A Recollection
Blackberry Winter Criticism
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Irony with a Center: Katherine Anne Porter
Katherine Anne Porter Criticism
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The Genius of Katherine Anne Porter
Katherine Anne Porter Criticism
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The Hamlet of Thomas Wolfe
Of Time and the River Criticism
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Love and Separateness in Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty Criticism
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Solstice and Other Poems
Robinson Jeffers Criticism
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Robert Penn Warren
James Dickey Criticism
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Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier Criticism
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The Man with No Commitments
The Adventures of Augie March Criticism
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Introduction
Caroline Gordon Criticism
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T. S. Stribling: A Paragraph in the History of Critical Realism
T(homas) S(igismund) Stribling Criticism
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Malcolm X: Mission and Meaning
Alex Haley Criticism
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Andrew Lytle's 'The Long Night': A Rediscovery
Andrew Lytle Criticism
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