William Faulkner (1897-1962) was a 20th-century American writer and Nobel Prize laureate. Born in New Albany, Mississippi, Faulkner drew inspiration for his short stories and novels from the landscapes and history of the American South. The majority of Faulkner’s work takes place in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner lived for most of his life.

Faulkner’s writing style is known for its nonlinear, stream-of-consciousness narrative, which challenged contemporary literary traditions. Faulkner’s works often feature multiple narrators, exploring the same events from different perspectives. This effect creates a complex and multilayered portrait of his characters and their world. Although Faulkner was himself white, his writing often explored the impact of race and racism on Southern society, and he understood the traumatic legacies of historical events such as slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. In addition, his works also explore issues such as gender, class, and the challenges of social progress.

Faulkner began his career as a poet, but he is now most known for his novels and short stories. His most famous work, The Sound and the Fury (1929), explores the decline of the Compson family through the perspectives of four narrators.