William Faulkner

William Faulkner was born to in New Albany, Mississippi, in 1897. His family name was actually “Falkner,” but was misspelled “Faulkner” during his time in the Canadian air force; Faulkner adopted the new spelling and published his books under this title. During his childhood, Faulkner was deeply influenced by his mother and grandmother, who were both interested in art and literature. He was also very close with family’s black servant, Caroline “Callie” Barr, and his relationship with Callie influenced his fascination with racial tensions in the American south, which appear in much of his work. His family were fond of storytelling and Faulkner grew up listening to tales about the history of the south and of his great grandfather, who was a Civil War hero. When he was seventeen Faulkner enrolled at the University of Mississippi and met Philip Stone, who mentored the young writer. Stone tried to get several of Faulkner’s poems published, but his early efforts were unsuccessful. Faulkner’s first poetry collection, The Marble Faun, was published in 1924. Faulkner published his first novel, Soldiers’ Pay, in 1925 and in 1927 wrote Flags in the Dust, his first novel set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. To Faulkner’s dismay Flags in the Dust was initially rejected by publishers, though eventually published in 1929. During a period of disillusionment with his literary career after the rejection of Flags in the Dust, Faulkner began working on an experimental novel, The Sound and the Fury, set in Yoknapatawpha County; the novel was published in 1929 and became one of Faulkner’s most famous works. Faulkner married Estelle Oldham in 1929 and hoped to make a living as a novelist. His novels As I Lay Dying and Sanctuary were published in the early 1930s. Later in life, struggling to make money, Faulkner moved to California and took a job as a screenwriter in Hollywood. He died in 1962 after a fall from a horse and was buried in Oxford, Mississippi.