William Faulkner (September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was a
Nobel PrizeThe Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
-winning
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
authorAn author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created...
. One of the most influential writers of the
20th centuryThe 20th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar.The British Empire, the Russian Empire, the German Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved in the first half of the century, with all but the...
, his reputation is based on his
novelA novel is a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s,
novellaA novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. While there is disagreement as to what length defines a novella, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count...
s and
short storiesA short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format or medium tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels or books...
. He was also a published
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and an occasional
screenwriterScreenwriters or scenarists or scriptwriters are people in a film crew who write/create the screenplays from which films and television programs are made....
.
Most of Faulkner's works are set in his native state of
MississippiMississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . The state is heavily forested outside of the...
. He is considered one of the most important
Southern writersSouthern literature is defined as American literature about the Southern United States or by writers from this region...
along with
Mark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is extensively quoted...
,
Robert Penn WarrenRobert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He received the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel for his novel All the King's Men and the Pulitzer Prize for...
,
Flannery O'ConnorMary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist.An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...
,
Truman CapoteTruman Garcia Capote , born Truman Streckfus Persons, was an American writer, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel"...
,
Eudora WeltyEudora Alice Welty was an award-winning American author who wrote short stories and novels about the American South. Her book, The Optimist's Daughter, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 and Welty was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous awards...
, and
Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams , né Thomas Lanier Williams, was an American playwright who received many of the top theatrical awards for his works of drama...
.
While his work was published regularly starting in the mid
1920sThe 1920s was the decade that ran from January 1, 1920, to December 31, 1929. It is sometimes referred to as the Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age, when speaking about the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom...
, Faulkner was relatively unknown before receiving the 1949
Nobel Prize in LiteratureThe Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
. Since then, he has often been cited as one of the most important writers in the history of
American literatureAmerican literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
.
Biography
He was born
William Cuthbert Falkner in
New Albany, MississippiNew Albany is a city in Union County, Mississippi, United States. New Albany is northwest of the much larger city of Tupelo. The population was 7,607 at the 2000 census...
, the eldest son of Murry Cuthbert Falkner (August 17, 1870 – August 7, 1932) and Maud Butler (November 27, 1871 – October 16, 1960). He later changed the spelling of his name to Faulkner. His brothers were Murry Charles "Jack" Falkner (June 26, 1899 – December 24, 1975), author John Falkner (later Faulkner) (September 24, 1901 – March 28, 1963) and Dean Swift Falkner (August 15, 1907 – November 10, 1935).
Faulkner was raised in and heavily influenced by the state of
MississippiMississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . The state is heavily forested outside of the...
, as well as by the history and culture of the
SouthThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
as a whole. When he was four years old, his entire family moved to the nearby town of
OxfordOxford is a city and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
, where he lived on and off for the rest of his life. Oxford is the model for the town of "Jefferson" in his fiction, and
Lafayette CountyLafayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2000, the population was 38,744. Its county seat is Oxford. The local pronunciation of the name is "la-FAY-et" or "la-fee-ET," varying by the speaker. Lafayette County is often regarded as the inspiration for...
, which contains the town of Oxford, is the model for his fictional
Yoknapatawpha CountyYoknapatawpha County is a fictional county created by American author William Faulkner as a setting for many of his novels. It is widely believed by scholars that Lafayette County, Mississippi is the basis for Yoknapatawpha County...
. Faulkner's great-grandfather,
William Clark FalknerWilliam Clark Falkner was a soldier, lawyer, politician, businessman, and author in northern Mississippi...
, was an important figure in northern Mississippi who served as a colonel in the Confederate Army, founded a railroad, and gave his name to the town of
FalknerFalkner is a town in Tippah County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 212 at the 2000 census. The town was named for William Clark Falkner, the great-grandfather of author William Faulkner.-Geography:Falkner is located at ....
in nearby
Tippah CountyTippah County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2000, the population was 20,826. Its county seat is Ripley. The name "Tippah" is a Chickasaw word meaning "cut off," and is taken from the creek of the same name that flows across much of the original county from northeast...
. He also wrote several novels and other works, establishing a literary tradition in the family. Colonel Falkner served as the model for Colonel John
SartorisSartoris is a novel, first published in 1929, by the American author William Faulkner. It portrays the decay of the Mississippi aristocracy following the social upheaval of the American Civil War. The 1929 edition is a abridged version of Faulker's original work. The full text was published in...
in his great-grandson's writing.
The elder Falkner was greatly influenced by the history of his family and the region in which they lived. Mississippi marked his sense of humor, his sense of the tragic position of blacks and whites, his characterization of Southern characters and timeless themes, including fiercely intelligent people dwelling behind the façades of
good old boysGood old boys or "good ole boys/good ol' boys" is an American slang term that can have both positive and negative meanings, depending on context and usage.- Complimentary slang :...
and simpletons. Unable to join the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
because of his height, (he was 5' 5½"), Faulkner first joined the Canadian and then the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
Royal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
, yet did not see any
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
wartime action.
Faulkner himself made the change to his last name in 1918 upon joining the Air Force. But according to one story, a careless typesetter simply made an error. When the misprint appeared on the title page of Faulkner's first book and the author was asked about it, he supposedly replied, "Either way suits me." Although Faulkner is heavily identified with Mississippi, he was living in
New OrleansNew Orleans is a major U.S. port and the largest city in the state of Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the largest metro area in the state....
in 1925 when he wrote his first novel,
Soldiers' Paythumb|First edition coverSoldiers' Pay is the first novel written by the American author William Faulkner. It was originally published in 1926.-Plot overview:...
, after being influenced by
Sherwood AndersonSherwood Anderson was an American writer, mainly of short stories, most notably the collection Winesburg, Ohio...
to try fiction. The small house at 624 Pirate's Alley, just around the corner from
St. Louis CathedralSaint Louis Cathedral , also known as the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, has the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating cathedral in the United States. The first church on the site was built in 1718. The third church, built in 1789, was raised to cathedral rank in 1793...
, is now the premises of Faulkner House Books, and also serves as the headquarters of the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society.
Faulkner served as Writer-in-Residence at the
University of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
from 1957 until his death. In 1959 he suffered serious injuries in a horse-riding accident. Faulkner died of a heart attack at the age of 64 on July 6, 1962, at Wright's Sanitorium in
Byhalia, MississippiByhalia is a town in Marshall County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 706 as of the 2000 census. The original field recording of "She Began to Lie" was recorded by Herbert Halpert on May 13, 1939 in Byhalia, as sung by Katherine and Christine Shipp.-Geography:Byhalia is located at...
.
In California
In the early 1940s,
Howard HawksHoward Winchester Hawks was an influential American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...
invited Faulkner to come to Hollywood to become a
screenwriterScreenwriters or scenarists or scriptwriters are people in a film crew who write/create the screenplays from which films and television programs are made....
for the films Hawks was directing. Faulkner happily accepted because he badly needed the money, and Hollywood paid well. Thus Faulkner contributed to the scripts for the films Hawks made from
Raymond ChandlerRaymond Thornton Chandler was an Anglo-American novelist and screenwriter who had an immense stylistic influence upon the modern private detective story, especially in the style of the writing and the attitudes now characteristic of the genre...
's
The Big SleepThe Big Sleep is a film noir directed by Howard Hawks, the first film version of Raymond Chandler's novel of the same name. It stars Humphrey Bogart as detective Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as the female lead. The Big Sleep is a prime example of the film noir genre. William Faulkner, Leigh...
and
Ernest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American writer and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, and one of the veterans of World War I later known as "the Lost Generation." He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea, and the Nobel Prize in Literature...
's
To Have and Have NotTo Have and Have Not is a thriller romance war adventure film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall that is nominally based on the novel To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway.-Plot:...
. Faulkner became good friends with Hawks, the screenwriter
A. I. BezzeridesA.I. Bezzerides, , was an American novelist and screenwriter, best known for writing Noir and Action motion pictures, especially several of Warners' "social conscience" films of the 1940s....
, and the actors
Humphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor.After trying various jobs, Bogart began acting in 1921 and became a regular in Broadway productions in the 1920s and 1930s. When the stock market crash of 1929 reduced the demand for plays, Bogart turned to film...
and
Lauren BacallLauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her husky voice and sultry looks....
.
An apocryphal story regarding Faulkner during his Hollywood years found him with a case of writer's block at the studio. He told Hawks he was having a hard time concentrating and would like to write at home. Hawks was agreeable, and Faulkner left. Several days passed, with no word from the writer. Hawks telephoned Faulkner's hotel and found that Faulkner had checked out several days earlier. It seems Faulkner had spoken quite literally, and had returned home to Mississippi to finish the screenplay.
Personal life
As a teenager in Oxford, Faulkner dated Estelle Oldham, the popular daughter of Major Lemuel and Lida Oldham, and believed he would someday marry her. However, Estelle dated other boys during their romance, and one of them, Cornell Franklin, ended up proposing marriage to her before Faulkner did, in 1918. Estelle's parents insisted she marry Cornell, as he was an Ole Miss law graduate, had recently been commissioned as a major in the Hawaiian Territorial Forces, and came from a respectable family with which they were old friends. Fortunately for Faulkner, Estelle's marriage to Franklin fell apart ten years later, and she was divorced in April of 1929. Faulkner married Estelle in June 1929 at
College Hill Presbyterian ChurchCollege Hill Presbyterian Church is a member of the Presbyterian Church in America . It is located just outside of Oxford, Mississippi.This fellowship of Christians was organized as a local church on January 11, 1835, in the home of Alexander Shaw, one of the early Scot-Irish settlers in North...
just outside of
Oxford, MississippiOxford is a city and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
. They
honeymoonA honeymoon is the traditional holiday taken by newlyweds to celebrate their marriage in intimacy and seclusion...
ed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast at
PascagoulaPascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
, then returned to Oxford, first living with relatives while they searched for a home of their own to purchase. In 1930 Faulkner purchased the antebellum home
Rowan OakRowan Oak, also known as William Faulkner House, is William Faulkner's former home in Oxford, Mississippi. It is a primitive Greek Revival house built in the 1840s by Robert Sheegog. Faulkner purchased the house when it was in disrepair in the 1930s and did much of the renovations himself. Other...
, known at that time as "The Bailey Place". He and his family lived there until his daughter Jill, after her mother's death, sold the property to the
University of MississippiThe University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1848, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford and three branch campuses located in Booneville, Tupelo, and Southaven...
in 1972. The house and furnishings are maintained much as they were in Faulkner's day. Faulkner's scribblings are still preserved on the wall there, including the day-by-day outline covering an entire week that he wrote out on the walls of his small study to help him keep track of the plot twists in the novel
A Fable.
Faulkner accomplished what he did despite a lifelong
drinking problemAlcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions. In common and historic usage, alcoholism is any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, despite health problems and negative social consequences...
. As he stated on several occasions, and as was witnessed by members of his family, the
pressThe news media refers to the section of the mass media that focuses on presenting current news to the public.These include print media ; broadcast media , and increasingly Internet-based media .The term news trade refers to the concept of the news media as a business...
, and friends at various periods over the course of his career, he often drank while writing, and he believed that alcohol helped to fuel the creative process. However, many believe that Faulkner used alcohol as an "escape valve" from the day-to-day pressures of his regular life, including his financial straits, rather than the more romantic vision of a brilliant writer who needed alcohol to pursue his art.
Faulkner is known to have had two extramarital affairs. One was with
Howard HawksHoward Winchester Hawks was an influential American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...
's secretary and script-girl, Meta Carpenter. The other, lasting from 1949 to 1953, was with a young writer, Joan Williams, who considered him her mentor. She made her relationship with Faulkner the subject of her 1971 novel
The Wintering.
Faulkner also had a romance with
Jean Stein-Biography:Jean Stein grew up in Los Angeles, California, USA, having been born into a prominent family in the entertainment world. She is the author of two books and a pioneer of the narrative form in oral history...
, an editor, author, and daughter of movie mogul Jules Stein.
Writing
From the early 1920s to the outbreak of WWII, when Faulkner left for California, he published 13 novels and numerous short stories, the body of work that grounds his reputation and for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize at the age of 52. This prodigious output, mainly driven by an obscure writer's need for money, includes his most celebrated novels such as
The Sound and the FuryThe Sound and the Fury is a novel written by the American author William Faulkner. It employs a number of striking narrative styles, including the technique known as stream of consciousness, pioneered by 20th century European novelists such as James Joyce and Virginia Woolf...
(1929),
As I Lay Dying (1930),
Light in AugustLight in August is a 1932 novel by the American author William Faulkner.Light in August is an exploration of racial conflict in the society of the Southern United States...
(1932), and
Absalom, Absalom!Absalom, Absalom! is a Southern Gothic novel by the American author William Faulkner, first published in 1936. It is a story about three families of the American South, taking place before, during, and after the Civil War, with the focus of the story on the life of Thomas Sutpen.-Plot...
(1936). Faulkner was also a prolific writer of
short storiesA short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format or medium tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels or books...
. His first short story collection,
These 13thumb|First edition coverThese 13 is a collection of short stories written by William Faulkner, and dedicated to his first daughter Alabama, who died nine days after her birth on January 11, 1931, and to his wife Estelle...
(1931), includes many of his most acclaimed (and most frequently
anthologizedAn anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
) stories, including "
A Rose for Emily"A Rose for Emily" is a short story by American author William Faulkner first published in the April 30, 1930 issue of Forum. This story takes place in Faulkner's fictional city, Jefferson, in his fictional county of Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi...
", "
Red Leaves"Red Leaves" is a short story by American author William Faulkner. First published in the Saturday Evening Post on October 25, 1930, it was one of Faulkner's first stories to appear in a national magazine. The next year the story was included in These 13, Faulkner's first collection of short stories...
", "
That Evening Sun"That Evening Sun" is a short story by the American author William Faulkner, published in 1931 on the collection These 13, which included Faulkner's most anthologized story, "A Rose for Emily". "That Evening Sun" is a dark portrait of white Southerners' indifference to the crippling fears of one of...
", and "
Dry September"Dry September" is a short story by William Faulkner. Published in 1931, it describes a lynch mob forming on a hot September evening. Told in five parts, the story includes the perspective of the rumored victim and the mob's leader...
".
Faulkner set many of his short stories and novels in
Yoknapatawpha CountyYoknapatawpha County is a fictional county created by American author William Faulkner as a setting for many of his novels. It is widely believed by scholars that Lafayette County, Mississippi is the basis for Yoknapatawpha County...
—based on, and nearly geographically identical to, Lafayette County, of which his hometown of
Oxford, MississippiOxford is a city and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
is the county seat. Yoknapatawpha was Faulkner's "postage stamp", and the bulk of work that it represents is widely considered by critics to amount to one of the most monumental fictional creations in the history of literature. Three novels,
The HamletThe Hamlet is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, published in 1940, about the fictional Snopes family of Mississippi.-Plot introduction:...
,
The TownThe Town is a novel written by Conrad Richter in 1950. It is the third installment of his Awakening Land trilogy, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1951.-External links:*...
and
The MansionThe Mansion is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, written in 1959. It is the last in a trilogy of books about the fictional Snopes family of Mississippi, following The Hamlet and The Town...
, known collectively as the
Snopes Trilogy, document the town of Jefferson and its environs as an extended family headed by Flem Snopes insinuates itself into the lives and psyches of the general populace. It is a stage wherein rapaciousness and decay come to the fore in a world where such realities were always present, but never so compartmentalized and well defined; their sources never so easily identifiable.
Additional works include
SanctuarySanctuary is a novel by the American author William Faulkner. It is considered one of his more controversial, given its theme of rape. First published in 1931, it was Faulkner's commercial and critical breakthrough, establishing his literary reputation...
(1931), a sensationalist "
pulp fictionPulp magazines were inexpensive fiction magazines. They were widely published from 1896 through the 1950s. The term pulp fiction can also refer to mass market paperbacks since the 1950s....
"-styled novel, characterized by
André MalrauxAndré Malraux DSO was a French author, adventurer and statesman.-Biography:Malraux was born in Paris during 1901, the son of Fernand-Georges Malraux , and Berthe Lamy . His parents separated during 1905 and eventually divorced. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Berthe and...
as "the intrusion of Greek tragedy into the detective story." Its themes of evil and corruption, bearing
Southern GothicSouthern Gothic is a subgenre of the gothic novel, unique to American literature.Like its parent genre, it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot...
tones, resonate to this day.
Requiem for a NunRequiem for a Nun is a book written by William Faulkner in 1951. Like many of Faulkner's works, Requiem experiments with narrative technique—the book is part novel, part play. The protagonist is Temple Drake, a character introduced as a college student in Sanctuary, one of Faulkner's early novels...
(1951), a play/novel sequel to
Sanctuary, is the only play that Faulkner published, except for his
The Marionettes, which he essentially self-published -- in a few hand-written copies -- as a young man.
Faulkner is known for an experimental style with meticulous attention to
dictionDiction, in its original, primary meaning, refers to the writer's or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression. A secondary, common meaning of "diction" is more precisely expressed with the word enunciation — the art of speaking clearly so that each word is clearly heard...
and
cadenceCadence may refer to:In music:*Cadence , a melodic configuration or series of chords marking the end of a phrase, section, or piece of music*Cadenza, a long, unaccompanied, freely played, and sometimes improvised solo passage in a concerto...
. In contrast to the
minimalistMinimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features. As a specific movement in the arts it is identified with developments in post-World War II Western Art, most strongly with American...
understatement of his contemporary
Ernest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American writer and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, and one of the veterans of World War I later known as "the Lost Generation." He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea, and the Nobel Prize in Literature...
, Faulkner made frequent use of "stream of consciousness" in his writing, and wrote often highly emotional, subtle, cerebral, complex, and sometimes
GothicSouthern Gothic is a subgenre of the gothic novel, unique to American literature.Like its parent genre, it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot...
or grotesque stories of a wide variety of characters—ranging from former slaves or descendents of slaves, to poor white, agrarian, or working-class Southerners, to Southern aristocrats.
In an interview with
The Paris Review in 1956, Faulkner remarked, "Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him." Another esteemed Southern writer,
Flannery O'ConnorMary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist.An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...
, stated that, "The presence alone of Faulkner in our midst makes a great difference in what the writer can and cannot permit himself to do. Nobody wants his mule and wagon stalled on the same track the Dixie Limited is roaring down."
Faulkner also wrote two volumes of poetry which were published in small printings,
The Marble Faun (1924) and
A Green Bough (1933), and a collection of crime-fiction short stories,
Knight's Gambit (1949).
Awards
In 1946, Faulkner was one of three finalists for the first
Ellery QueenEllery Queen is both a fictional character and a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay and Manford Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee , to write detective fiction.In a successful series of novels that covered 42 years, Ellery...
Mystery Magazine Award. He came in second to
Manly Wade WellmanManly Wade Wellman was an American writer. He is best known for his fantasy and horror stories set in the Appalachian Mountains and for drawing on the native folklore of that region, but he wrote in a wide variety of genres including science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, detective fiction,...
. Faulkner received the 1949
Nobel Prize for LiteratureThe Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
for "his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel." Though he won the Nobel prize for 1949, it was not awarded until the 1950 awards banquet, when Faulkner was awarded the 1949 prize and
Bertrand RussellBertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was an English philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. Although he spent the majority of his life in England, he was born in Wales, where he also died.Russell led the British "revolt against idealism" in the...
the 1950 prize. He donated a portion of his
NobelThe Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
winnings "to establish a fund to support and encourage new fiction writers," eventually resulting in the
PEN/Faulkner Award for FictionThe PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the author of the best American work of fiction that year. The winner receives US $15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US $5000. The foundation brings the winner and runners-up to Washington, D.C...
. He donated another portion to a local Oxford bank to establish an account to provide scholarship funds to help educate African-American education majors at nearby
Rust CollegeRust College is a historically black liberal arts college located in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Located approximately 35 miles southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, it is the second-oldest private college in the state and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and one of only ten historically...
in
Holly Springs, MississippiHolly Springs is a city in Marshall County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,957 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County. A short drive from Memphis, Tennessee, Holly Springs is the site of a number of well-preserved antebellum homes and other structures and...
. Faulkner won two
Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by Hungarian-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City....
s for what are considered as his "minor" novels: his 1954 novel
A Fable, which took the Pulitzer in 1955, and the 1962 novel,
The ReiversThe Reivers, published in 1962, is the last novel by the American author William Faulkner. The bestselling novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1963. Faulkner previously won this award for his book A Fable, making him one of only three authors to be awarded it more than once...
, which was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer in 1963. He also won two National Book Awards, first for his
Collected Stories in 1951 and once again for his novel
A Fable in 1955. On August 3, 1987, the
United States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. Within the United States, it is commonly...
issued a 22-cent
postage stampA postage stamp is adhesive paper evidence of a fee paid for postal services. Usually a small rectangle attached to an envelope, the stamp signifies the person sending it has fully or partly paid for delivery...
in his honor.
Novels
- Soldiers' Pay
thumb|First edition coverSoldiers' Pay is the first novel written by the American author William Faulkner. It was originally published in 1926.-Plot overview:...
(1926)
- Father Abraham (written 1926–27, published 1983)
- Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes is a comic novel by the American author William Faulkner, published in 1927. It is the author's second novel. The story tells of the misadventures of passengers on a cruise ship, summarized hour by hour and day by day.
...
(1927)
- Sartoris
Sartoris is a novel, first published in 1929, by the American author William Faulkner. It portrays the decay of the Mississippi aristocracy following the social upheaval of the American Civil War. The 1929 edition is a abridged version of Faulker's original work. The full text was published in...
/Flags in the DustFlags in the Dust is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, completed in 1927. It is the first novel set in his fictional Yoknapatawpha County. His publisher heavily edited the manuscript with Faulkner's reluctant consent, removing about 40,000 words in the process. That version was...
(1929/1973)
- The Sound and the Fury
The Sound and the Fury is a novel written by the American author William Faulkner. It employs a number of striking narrative styles, including the technique known as stream of consciousness, pioneered by 20th century European novelists such as James Joyce and Virginia Woolf...
(1929)
- As I Lay Dying (1930)
- Sanctuary
Sanctuary is a novel by the American author William Faulkner. It is considered one of his more controversial, given its theme of rape. First published in 1931, it was Faulkner's commercial and critical breakthrough, establishing his literary reputation...
(1931)
- Light in August
Light in August is a 1932 novel by the American author William Faulkner.Light in August is an exploration of racial conflict in the society of the Southern United States...
(1932)
- Pylon
Pylon is a novel by the American author William Faulkner. Published in 1935, Pylon is set in New Valois, a fictionalized version of New Orleans. It is one of Faulkner's few novels set outside Yoknapatawpha County, his favorite fictional setting, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi. Pylon is the...
(1935)
- Absalom, Absalom!
Absalom, Absalom! is a Southern Gothic novel by the American author William Faulkner, first published in 1936. It is a story about three families of the American South, taking place before, during, and after the Civil War, with the focus of the story on the life of Thomas Sutpen.-Plot...
(1936)
- The Unvanquished
The Unvanquished is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, set in Yoknapatawpha County. It tells the story of the Sartoris family, who first appeared in the novel Sartoris . The Unvanquished takes place before that story, and is set during the American Civil War...
(1938)
- If I Forget Thee Jerusalem (The Wild Palms/Old Man)
If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem is a novel by the American author William Faulkner published in 1939. The novel was originally published under the title The Wild Palms, which is the title of one of the two interwoven stories. This title was chosen by the publishers, Random House, over the objections of...
(1939)
- The Hamlet
The Hamlet is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, published in 1940, about the fictional Snopes family of Mississippi.-Plot introduction:...
(1940)
- Go Down, Moses
Go Down, Moses is a collection of seven related pieces of short fiction by American author William Faulkner, sometimes considered a novel. The most prominent character and unifying voice is that of Isaac McCaslin, "Uncle Ike", who will live to be an old man; "uncle to half a county and father to no...
(1942), episodic novel made up of seven rewritten, previously published stories including "Pantaloon in Black", "The Old People", "The Bear", "Delta Autumn", and the title story
- Intruder in the Dust
Intruder in the Dust is a novel by the Nobel Prize-winning American author William Faulkner.The novel focuses on Lucas Beauchamp, a black farmer accused of murdering a white man. He is exonerated through the efforts of black and white teenagers and a spinster from a long-established Southern family...
(1948)
- Requiem for a Nun
Requiem for a Nun is a book written by William Faulkner in 1951. Like many of Faulkner's works, Requiem experiments with narrative technique—the book is part novel, part play. The protagonist is Temple Drake, a character introduced as a college student in Sanctuary, one of Faulkner's early novels...
(1951)
- A Fable
A Fable is a novel written in 1954 by the American author William Faulkner, which won him both the Pulitzer prize and the National Book Award in 1955. Despite these recognitions, however, the novel received mixed critical reviews and a reputation as one of Faulkner's lesser works...
(1954)
- The Town
The Town is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, published in 1957, about the fictional Snopes family of Mississippi. It is the second of the "Snopes" trilogy, completed by The Hamlet and The Mansion ....
(1957)
- The Mansion
The Mansion is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, written in 1959. It is the last in a trilogy of books about the fictional Snopes family of Mississippi, following The Hamlet and The Town...
(1959)
- The Reivers
The Reivers, published in 1962, is the last novel by the American author William Faulkner. The bestselling novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1963. Faulkner previously won this award for his book A Fable, making him one of only three authors to be awarded it more than once...
(1962)
Short stories
- "Landing in Luck
"Landing in Luck" was William Faulkner's first published short story. Appearing in the November 26, 1919 issue of The Mississippian, a literary magazine at the University of Mississippi, "Landing in Luck" tells the story of Cadet Thompson, who is sent on a solo flight without adequate instruction...
" (1919)
- "The Hill" (1922)
- "New Orleans"
- "Mirrors of Chartres Street" (1925)
- "Damon and Pythias Unlimited" (1925)
- "Jealousy" (1925)
- "Cheest" (1925)
- "Out of Nazareth" (1925)
- "The Kingdom of God" (1925)
- "The Rosary" (1925)
- "The Cobbler" (1925)
- "Chance" (1925)
- "Sunset" (1925)
- "The Kid Learns" (1925)
- "The Liar" (1925)
- "Home" (1925)
- "Episode" (1925)
- "Country Mice" (1925)
- "Yo Ho and Two Bottles of Rum" (1925)
- "Music - Sweeter than the Angels Sing"
- "A Rose for Emily
"A Rose for Emily" is a short story by American author William Faulkner first published in the April 30, 1930 issue of Forum. This story takes place in Faulkner's fictional city, Jefferson, in his fictional county of Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi...
" (1930)
- "Honor" (1930)
- "Thrift" (1930)
- "Red Leaves
"Red Leaves" is a short story by American author William Faulkner. First published in the Saturday Evening Post on October 25, 1930, it was one of Faulkner's first stories to appear in a national magazine. The next year the story was included in These 13, Faulkner's first collection of short stories...
" (1930)
- "Ad Astra" (1931)
- "Dry September
"Dry September" is a short story by William Faulkner. Published in 1931, it describes a lynch mob forming on a hot September evening. Told in five parts, the story includes the perspective of the rumored victim and the mob's leader...
" (1931)
- "That Evening Sun
"That Evening Sun" is a short story by the American author William Faulkner, published in 1931 on the collection These 13, which included Faulkner's most anthologized story, "A Rose for Emily". "That Evening Sun" is a dark portrait of white Southerners' indifference to the crippling fears of one of...
" (1931)
- "Hair" (1931)
- "Spotted Horses
"Spotted Horses" is a novella by William Faulkner. It was originally published in Scribner's magazine in 1931. It includes the character Flem Snopes, who appears in much of Faulkner's work, and tells in ambiguous terms of his backhand profiteering with an honest Texan selling untamed ponies...
" (1931)
- "The Hound" (1931)
- "Fox Hunt" (1931)
- "Carcassonne" (1931)
- "Divorce in Naples" (1931)
- "Victory" (1931)
- "All the Dead Pilots" (1931)
- "Crevasse" (1931)
- "Mistral" (1931)
- "A Justice" (1931)
- "Dr. Martino" (1931)
- "Idyll in the Desert" (1931)
- "Miss Zilphia Gant" (1932)
- "Death Drag" (1932)
- "Centaur in Brass" (1932)
- "Once Aboard the Lugger (I)" (1932)
- "Lizards in Jamshyd's Courtyard" (1932)
- "Turnabout" (1932)
- "Smoke" (1932)
- "Mountain Victory" (1932)
- "There Was a Queen" (1933)
- "Artist at Home" (1933)
- "Beyond" (1933)
- "Elly" (1934)
- "Pennsylvania Station" (1934)
- "Wash" (1934)
- "A Bear Hunt" (1934)
- "The Leg" (1934)
- "Black Music" (1934)
- "Mule in the Yard" (1934)
- "Ambuscade" (1934)
- "Retreat" (1934)
- "Lo!" (1934)
- "Raid" (1934)
- "Skirmish at Sartoris" (1935)
- "Golden Land" (1935)
- "That Will Be Fine" (1935)
- "Uncle Willy
"Uncle Willy" is a short story by William Faulkner. It features an appearance by Darl Bundren from Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying....
" (1935)
- "Lion" (1935)
- "The Brooch" (1936)
- "Two Dollar Wife" (1936)
- "Fool About a Horse" (1936)
- "Vendee" (1936)
- "Monk" (1937)
- "Barn Burning
"Barn Burning" is a short story by the American author William Faulkner, which appeared in Harper's in 1938. The story deals with class conflicts, the influence of fathers, and vengeance as viewed through the third-person perspective of a young, impressionable child. It is a prequel to The Hamlet,...
" (1939)
- "Hand Upon the Waters" (1939)
- "A Point of Law" (1940)
- "The Old People" (1940)
- "Pantaloon in Black" (1940)
- "Gold Is Not Always" (1940)
- "Tomorrow" (1940), adapted to film
Tomorrow is 1972 film directed by Joseph Anthony. The screenplay was written by Horton Foote, adapted from a play he wrote which was based on a story by William Faulkner...
in 1972, starring Robert DuvallRobert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards....
- "The Tall Men
"The Tall Men" is a short story written by William Faulkner in 1941. It begins with two men, government officials, visiting a house to serve a warrant for two brothers who have not registered for selective service. One of the officials, a marshal, holds an affinity for the family, a member of whom...
" (1941)
- "Two Soldiers" (1942), adapted to film
Two Soldiers is a 2003 short drama film directed by Aaron Schneider with a score by Alan Silvestri. It won an Academy Award in 2004 for Best Short Subject...
in 2003
- "Delta Autumn" (1942)
- "The Bear" (novella) (1942)
- "Afternoon of a Cow" (1943)
- "Shingles for the Lord
"Shingles for the Lord" is a short story written by the American author William Faulkner, first published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1943. The story takes place in Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County focusing on Res Grier, a struggling farmer, as he joins his neighbors in roofing the old church...
" (1943)
- "My Grandmother Millard and General Bedford Forrest and the Battle of Harrykin Creek" (1943)
- "Shall Not Perish" (1943)
- "Appendix, Compson, 1699-1945" (1946)
- "An Error in Chemistry" (1946)
- "A Courtship" (1948)
- "Knight's Gambit" (1949)
- "Nobel Prize Award Speech" (1949)
- "A Name for the City" (1950)
- "Notes on a Horsethief" (1951)
- "Mississippi" (1954)
- "Sepulture South: Gaslight" (1954)
- "Race at Morning" (1955)
- "By the People" (1955)
- "Hell Creek Crossing" (1962)
- "Mr. Acarius" (1965)
- "The Wishing Tree" (1967)
- "Al Jackson" (1971)
- "And Now What's To Do" (1973)
- "Nympholepsy" (1973)
- "The Priest" (1976)
- "Mayday" (1977)
- "Frankie and Johnny" (1978)
- "Don Giovanni" (1979)
- "Peter" (1979)
- "A Portrait of Elmer" (1979)
- "Adolescence" (1979)
- "Snow" (1979)
- "Moonlight" (1979)
- "With Caution and Dispatch" (1979)
- "Hog Pawn" (1979)
- "A Dangerous Man" (1979)
- "A Return" (1979)
- "The Big Shot" (1979)
- "Once Aboard the Lugger (II)" (1979)
- "Dull Tale" (1979)
- "Evangeline" (1979)
- "Love" (1988)
- "Christmas Tree" (1995)
- "Rose of Lebanon" (1995)
- "Lucas Beauchamp" (1999)
Poetry
- Vision in Spring (1921)
- The Marble Faun (1924)
- A Green Bough (1933)
- This Earth, a Poem (1932)
- Mississippi Poems (1979)
- Helen, a Courtship and Mississippi Poems (1981).
Audio recordings
- The William Faulkner Audio Collection. Caedmon, 2003. Five hours on five discs includes Faulkner reading his 1949 Nobel Prize acceptance speech and excerpts from As I Lay Dying, The Old Man and A Fable, plus readings by Debra Winger ("A Rose for Emily", "Barn Burning"), Keith Carradine ("Spotted Horses") and Arliss Howard ("That Evening Sun", "Wash"). Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.
- William Faulkner Reads: The Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, Selections from As I Lay Dying, A Fable, The Old Man. Caedmon/Harper Audio, 1992. Cassette. ISBN 1-55994-572-9
- William Faulkner Reads from His Work. Arcady Series, MGM E3617 ARC, 1957. Faulkner reads from The Sound and The Fury (side one) and Light in August (side two). Produced by Jean Stein, who also did the liner notes with Edward Cole. Cover photograph by Robert Capa (Magnum).
External links