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William Cuthbert Faulkner was born on September 25,
1897, in New Albany, Mississippi.
The first of four sons born to Murry and Maud Butler
Falkner (not Faulkner). A few days before William’s
fifth birthday, the Falkners moved to Oxford,
Mississippi.
He never graduated from highschool, but
made every attempt to join the military. But with
his 5'6” frame, the American military would not take
him. So he changed his name by adding a “u”
(thinking it made his name seem more British), and
with a phony British accent and a few white lies,
Faulkner joined the British Forces. Though he saw
no combat, the material for his first novel,
Soldier’s Pay stems from his brief experience in
the military.
Through a provision by the government permitting all
veterans to attend college, Faulkner entered The
University of Mississippi. However, he eventually
dropped out and took a job in the university
mailroom. He quickly developed a reputation as an
irresponsible postman and a drunk about town.
He was a misfit in Oxford, but he would always
return to the town for one reason or another. At
the encouragement of one young friend, he moved to
New York City and went to work at a bookstore where
he met
Sherwood Anderson. Anderson introduced
Faulkner to a literary community where he found
support for his writing. He followed Anderson
to New Orleans, but he did not settle down there.
Throughout his life, Faulkner would divide his time
between Charlottesville, Virginia, New York, and
Oxford. Charlottesville seemed to be where he
felt most at home, as though he should have been
born there. He gladly accepted a position
teaching at the University of Virginia, but Oxford,
Mississippi was home. And so, he returned to
teach and visit often as well.
He won numerous
literary awards including two Pulitzer Prize Awards.
In the summer of 1962 he suffered an especially bad
fall off a horse and his health continued to
diminish. On July 6, 1962 William Faulkner died of a heart
attack at the age of 64.
For additional books by and about William Faulkner
(click here).
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SLR recommends:
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See our book review on
As I Lay Dying.
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Use
to find first
editions
and signed works by Faulkner!
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