Stamps Of Approval

Peter Carey, two-time Booker Prize winner and executive director of the Hunter MFA program, was given another honor this year: His face is on a stamp back home in Australia.

Actually it's on two: One with a recent photograph of him now in his 60s and another depicting him when he was younger.

Carey is one of six authors on the latest round of stamps of "legends" that Australian postal officials print "to honor individuals who have made a lifetime contribution to the development of our national identity and character."

"To be on an Australian stamp is really quite moving," Carey, who lives in New York, was quoted as saying at a ceremony in Melbourne. "There's a big part of me that really wants to be part of Australian culture."