The United States Postal Service issued a stamp honouring author Sarah Orne Jewett on 21 August 2026 in South Berwick, Maine, where she spent most of her life. The release is the 35th stamp in the Literary Arts series and recognises a writer closely associated with nineteenth-century New England regional literature.

Jewett lived from 1849 to 1909 and began publishing before she was 20. By 1880 she was an established author whose fiction and essays portrayed the people, landscape and community life of New England. Her published work included hundreds of short stories, poetry, essays and approximately 18 novels. She also mentored younger writers, notably Willa Cather, after an accident ended her own writing career in 1902.

The stamp is nondenominated but pays the three-ounce letter rate, with the words “THREE OUNCE” identifying its postal use. USPS is selling it in pressure-sensitive adhesive panes of 20 under item number 130200. Like a Forever stamp, it remains valid for the service printed on it even if the corresponding postage rate later changes.

USPS art director Ethel Kessler designed the issue using artwork by Mark Summers. The choice of a three-ounce-rate format distinguishes it from ordinary one-ounce commemoratives and gives collectors a clearly identifiable modern usage on heavier correspondence. Examples genuinely used on suitable three-ounce mail may be especially helpful for documenting the stamp’s intended postal function.

The first-day location connects the issue directly with Jewett’s home community rather than a general literary venue. The stamp and associated philatelic products are available through USPS channels, while first-day material can be distinguished by the 21 August South Berwick cancellation and the stamp’s Literary Arts series designation.