A new Kentucky Educational Television documentary is centering on the life and career of famed local writer and poet, Robert Penn Warren.
The All the King’s Men author grew up in Todd County before leaving for Vanderbilt University and eventually helping found the Southern Review.
Celebrated in the literary world, Warren is the only person to ever win a Pulitzer in both poetry and fiction.
Tom Thurman produced and directed the Kentucky Educational Television film. Despite not returning to his home state, Thurman said the commonwealth had a profound impact on the Pulitzer Prize winner.
“After he moved to Nashville to study at Vanderbilt, he never lived in Kentucky the rest of his life and yet he kept replaying his background—he kept returning to it, revisiting it—in his work constantly," Thurman said.
Thurman added that he wants the documentary to inspire viewers to discover Warren’s full catalogue. The film, Robert Penn Warren: A Vision, will screen at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 22, at Western Kentucky University’s Van Meter Auditorium.
It’s the first feature-length documentary made about Warren’s life.
RSVP and attenendance information is listed at KET's website.
