[Home]William Faulkner

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William Faulkner (September 25 1897 - July 6, 1962) was a southern novelist of genius. His work can be hard to read, and it is not to every taste. Like every prolific author, he suffered the envy and scorn of others who could not imagine producing quality work at such a pace. But Faulkner's writing is rich, tragic and funny.

Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, raised in Mississippi and heavily marked by the state. Mississippi marked his sense of humor, his sense of the tragic position of Blacks and Whites, and his theme that fiercely intelligent people dwelled behind the facade of good old boys and simpletons.

Some of his more popular works are As I Lay Dying, The Unvanquished, and The Sound and the Fury. He set many of his stories and novels in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County.

In his later years Faulkner moved to Hollywood to be a screenwriter (producing scripts for The Big Sleep and Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not--both directed by Howard Hawks. Faulkner became an alcoholic and started an affair with a script girl for Hawks.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1949. He lay around in bed, drunk as a sailor, until shortly before he had to sail to Stockhoolm to receive the distinguished prize. He then went to Stockholm and delivered one of the greatest speeches any literature recipient has ever given. Both events were fully in character.

Works by date of first publication:

Novels

Short Stories

Poetry Collections


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Last edited December 19, 2001 8:08 am by 64.12.106.xxx (diff)
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