Stephen Vincent Benét (/bəˈneɪ/ bə-NAY; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist.

In 2009, Library of America selected his story "The King of the Cats", published in 1929, for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of American Fantastic Tales, edited by Peter Straub.

His paternal uncle Laurence Vincent Benét was an ensign in the U.S. Navy during the Spanish–American War who later manufactured the French Hotchkiss machine gun.

[11] Out of John Brown's strong sinews the tall skyscrapers grow, Out of his heart the chanting buildings rise, Rivet and girder, motor and dynamo, Pillar of smoke by day and fire by night, The steel-faced cities reaching at the skies, The whole enormous and rotating cage Hung with hard jewels of electric light, Smoky with sorrow, black with splendor, dyed Whiter than damask for a crystal bride With metal suns, the engine-handed Age, The genie we have raised to rule the earth, Obsequious to our will But servant-master still, The tireless serf already half a god -- Benét won the O. Henry Award three times: in 1932, for his short stories An End to Dreams; in 1937, for The Devil and Daniel Webster; and in 1940, for Freedom's a Hard-Bought Thing.

His fantasy short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" inspired several unauthorized dramatizations by other writers after its publication, which prompted Benét to adapt his own work for the stage.

On April 17, 1943, NBC Radio broadcast a special tribute to his life and works, which included a performance by Helen Hayes.

[15][16] He was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for Western Star, an unfinished narrative poem on the settling of the United States.

His play John Brown's Body was staged on Broadway in 1953 in a three-person dramatic reading featuring Tyrone Power, Judith Anderson, and Raymond Massey, directed by Charles Laughton.