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The work of the artist is to lift up
people's hearts and help them endure.
~William Faulkner~

 William Faulkner is considered to be one of American's greatest novelists and short story writers of the 20th century. Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi on September 25, 1897. He was the oldest of four sons born to his parents Murry and Maud. He was named after his great-grandfather William Clark Falkner. His great-grandfather first lived in Tennessee and then moved on to Mississippi. Over his lifetime, he was a plantation owner, colonel in the Confederate army, railroad builder, and an author like his grandson, William. The elder William Clark Falkner wrote the popular novel The White Rose of Memphis.

Faulkner was five when his family moved from New Albany to Oxford, Mississippi. He lived in Oxford most of his life. Faulkner was an average student. He was in the tenth grade when he dropped out of high school. He loved reading and writing poetry. When World War I started, Faulkner tried to sign up for the American Air Force, but was rejected because of his height and weight. So he enlisted in the Canadian Air Force. He became an honorary second lieutenant in December of 1918, even though he did not see any combat.

Faulkner was accepted into the University of Mississippi after the war, but he did not finish his first year. He used student publication as a way of getting his first stories and poems out to the public.

In 1921, Faulkner traveled to New York City but was unsuccessful at making contacts in the publishing business. When he went back to Mississippi, he became post master in Oxford of the university post office in 1922 until 1924. In 1924, Faulkner met novelist and short story writer Sherwood Anderson. Anderson inspired Faulkner to write fiction. Faulkner finished his first book Soldier's Pay after six weeks of writing. The Sound and the Fury was Faulkner's first successful novel. It was published in 1929. Estelle Oldham divorced Cornell Franklin in April of 1929, and married Faulkner a short time later in June. They were married at or near College Hill Presbyterian Church. Estelle already had two children, Malcolm and Victoria. They all lived at Miss Elma Meek's house in Oxford. 

Faulkner gained his recognition after he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. After he was awarded the Nobel Prize, he became a public figure and was eventually asked by the U.S. State Department to go on goodwill tours around the world. He accepted. 

After 1949 Faulkner wrote fast, but not as powerfully. His later works include Knight's Gambit, a collection of detective stories; Requiem for a Nun, which is a play with commentary; and A Fable, an allegory with a World War I background. His last novel was The Reivers, which was a nostalgic comedy of boyhood that has been compared to Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Faulkner died on July 6, 1962. He died of a heart attack in his home in Oxford, Mississippi. He was buried on July 7 at St. Peter's Cemetery in Oxford.

The man who removes a mountain
begins by carrying away small stones.
~William Faulkner~

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