William Faulkner

An item at American Writers Museum

In 1949, William Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition of "his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel." Works like The Sound and the Fury (1929) exemplify his use of stream of consciousness, unreliable narrators, and multiple points of view.

Faulkner spent most of his life in his hometown of Oxford, Mississippi, and drew upon family lore for his novels and short stories. His work stands as an elegy to the old South while also examining with an unflinching eye the cruelty and human tragedy that resulted from slavery and the Civil War.

AMERICAN VOICES

An exhibit at American Writers Museum

American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.

This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.

American Writers Museum