William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of his life. A Nobel laureate, Faulkner is one of the most celebrated writers of American literature and often is considered the greatest writer of Southern literature.
Faulkner in 1954, photographed by Carl Van Vechten
Faulkner was influenced by stories of his great-grandfather and namesake William Clark Falkner.
Cadet Faulkner in Toronto, 1918
During part of his time in New Orleans, Faulkner lived in a house in the French Quarter (pictured center yellow).
Lafayette County, Mississippi
Lafayette County is a county in the U.S. state of Mississippi. At the 2020 census, the population was 55,813. Its county seat is Oxford. The local pronunciation of the name is "la-FAY-et." The county's name honors Marquis de Lafayette, a French military hero and American general who fought during the American Revolutionary War.
Lafayette County courthouse in Oxford