An American Novelist, poet, and short story Writer, he is best known for John Brown's Body, a book-length narrative poem about the American Civil War. His popular short stories include The Devil and Daniel Webster and By the Waters of Babylon.
After graduating from The Albany Academy in Albany, New York, he attended Yale University, where he edited the campus humor magazine.
His famous work, John Brown's Body, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1929.
With his wife, Rosemary Carr, he had two daughters and a son.
While working for Yale University Press, Benet published the early work of James Agee.
