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Creative Mind: The Writer as Creator

January 30, 1952
Robert Penn Warren Pultizer Prize winner, 1985 poet laureate
Lyman Bryson host, commentator

Lyman Bryson discusses with poet and novelist Robert Penn Warren how an artist sets out to find truth in his imagination.

Twenty-two prominent men and women in many fields contributed to this thought-provoking series, which sought to provide insights useful in the development of an educational and cultural setting in which this nation's creative potential could be fully realized. Originally given during radio interviews in the 1950's, their timeless comments have been remastered to live online for your enjoyment.

Frank Lloyd Wright, Aaron Copland, Leopold Stokowski, Robert Penn Warren, Allen Tate, Norman Cousins, Reinhold Niehbuhr, Margaret Mead, Agnes de Mille, and many other authorities express their individual views on the creative process in reference to their own work and to society. Each interview attempted to answer several critical questions relative to nontechnical values that challenge the attention of thoughtful individuals in an industrial society:

Do the human and cultural aspects of civilization receive the necessary encouragement to insure a balanced development?
Do the young potential artists in our midst have a favorable opportunity to express their talents?
Consideration of these and related issues suggests numerous questions as to the nature of art, artists, creativeness in both the arts and sciences, and the conditions requisite for creative effort.

WGBH
Image of The Collected Poems of Robert Penn Warren
Author: John Burt, Robert Penn Warren
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (1998)
Binding: Hardcover, 830 pages
Image of At Heaven's Gate (New Directions Paperbook)
Author: Robert Penn Warren
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation (1985)
Binding: Paperback, 391 pages
Image of Selected Poems of Robert Penn Warren
Author: John Burt, Robert Penn Warren
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (2001)
Binding: Paperback, 285 pages
Image of All the King's Men  [2006 Movie Tie-In Edition]
Author: Robert Penn Warren
Publisher: Harvest Books (2006)
Binding: Paperback, 672 pages
Image of World Enough and Time (Voices of the South)
Author: Robert Penn Warren
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (1999)
Binding: Paperback, 465 pages
Image of The Legacy of the Civil War
Author: Robert Penn Warren
Publisher: Bison Books (1998)
Binding: Paperback, 109 pages
Image of The Circus in the Attic: and Other Stories
Author: Robert Penn Warren
Publisher: Harvest Books (1968)
Binding: Paperback, 288 pages
Image of The Cave (Kentucky Voices)
Author: Robert Penn Warren
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky (2006)
Binding: Paperback, 424 pages
Image of Flood: A Romance of Our Time (Voices of the South)
Author: Robert Penn Warren
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (2003)
Binding: Paperback, 456 pages
Image of Band of Angels (Voices of the South)
Author: Robert Penn Warren
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (1994)
Binding: Paperback, 375 pages