William Faulkner’s Biography By: Mateo Mrnjavakbar, Daniel Fuchs, Pete Nahn, and Tom Austin

William Cuthbert Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi. He had three younger brothers and lived from September 25, 1897 until July 6th, His family eventually moved to Oxford, Mississippi, and settled there for the duration of his life on September 21, William Faulkner’s Life

During the summer of 1927, Faulkner wrote his first novel set in his fictional Yoknapatawpha -County, entitled Flags in the Dust. This novel drew heavily on the traditions and history of the South, in which Faulkner had been engrossed in his youth. However, when submitted for publication, it was rejected by the publishers Boni & Liveright. ---Ben Wasson, to significantly edit the text and the novel was finally published in 1928 as Sartoris. In the fall of 1928, when Faulkner was thirty years old, he began working on The Sound and the Fury. He started by writing three short stories about a group of children with the last name Compson Perhaps as a result of his disappointment in the initial rejection of Flags in the Dust, Faulkner had now become indifferent to his publishers and wrote this novel in a much more experimental style. Faulkner this time insisted that Ben Wasson not do any editing or add any punctuation for clarity. Beginning in 1930, Faulkner sent out some of his short stories to various national magazines. Several of his stories were published and this brought him enough income to buy a house in Oxford for his family to live in, which he named "Rowan Oak." In 1932, Faulkner was in a much less secure financial position. MGM Studios offered Faulkner work as a screenwriter in Hollywood. While Faulkner was not a fan of film, he needed the money, and so he accepted the job offer and arrived in Culver City California in May Faulkner would continue to find work as a screenwriter for years to come throughout the 1930s and 1940s. He suffered serious injuries in a horse-riding accident in 1959, and died from a myocardial infarction, at Wright's Sanitarium in Byhalia, Mississippi. He is buried along with his family in St. Peter's Cemetery in Oxford.

The younger Faulkner was influenced by his family’s history and where he lived. Mississippi gave him his sense of humor, his idea of the tragic position of Black and White Americans, his characterization of Southern characters, and his timeless themes, including very intelligent people hiding behind the façades of good old boys and simpletons. He was unable to join the U.S. Army due to his height (5’ 5 ½”), Faulkner enlisted in the reserves. Although Faulkner claimed to have been a member of the British Royal Flying Corp, he never actually saw service during World War I. In 1918 Faulkner changed his surname from Falkner. Supposedly, a typesetter made a mistake and when the misprint appeared on the title page of his first book, Faulkner was asked whether he wanted a change. He responded with, “Either way suits me.” Faulkner is heavily identified with Mississippi, but he also lived in New Orleans in 1925 when he wrote his first novel, Soldiers’ Play, after being influenced by Sherwood Anderson to attempt writing fiction.

In his early years, Faulkner did well in school. He even skipped second grade and continued doing well. That is, until, fifth grade where he began to care less about school and became quite withdrawn. He did so poorly that he repeated eleventh grade and never graduated high school. Faulkner also listened to stories of Mammy Callie of the Civil War, slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Falkner family in his youth. Faulkner's grandfather would also tell him of the exploits of his great-grandfather who was a successful businessman, writer, and a Civil War hero. In adolescence, Faulkner began writing poetry. He didn’t write his first novel until And attended the University of Mississippi in Oxford, He enrolled at Ole Miss in 1919, attended three semesters, then dropped out in November He skipped classes often and received a "D" in English. However, some of his poems were published in campus journals. When he was 17, Faulkner met Philip Stone. He was a large influence in Faulkner’s writing and tried to get his work published but it never worked.

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