The Postal Service has issued a stamp featuring beloved author Flannery O’Connor, who wrote about religious themes and southern life.
The stamp is the 30th release in the USPS Literary Arts series, which celebrates authors and poets. The nondenominated 93-cent stamp is good for mail up to 3 ounces.
“In O’Connor, we have an author who — in her unsettling and darkly comic stories and novels — explored the potential for enlightenment and grace in what seem like the worst possible moments,” said McLean, VA, Postmaster Daniel Grant, who dedicated the stamp June 5.
O’Connor’s works include the short story collection “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and the novel “Wise Blood.” She was 39 when she died of lupus in 1964.
The stamp features a watercolor painting based on a black-and-white photograph of O’Connor as a college student. The portrait is surrounded by peacock feathers, symbolizing the peafowl she raised at Andalusia, her Georgia farm.
Other writers honored with Literary Arts stamps include John Steinbeck, Zora Neale Hurston and Mark Twain.
The O’Connor stamp is available online and at Post Offices.