William Cuthbert Faulkner was one of the most celebrated American writers, renowned for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi. He is often considered the greatest writer of Southern literature.

Born in New Albany, Mississippi, and raised in Oxford, Mississippi, Faulkner joined the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War I but did not serve in combat. He attended the University of Mississippi for a brief period before beginning his writing career. Faulkner's first novel, Soldiers' Pay (1925), was followed by works such as Sartoris (1927), The Sound and the Fury (1929), and As I Lay Dying (1930). His later works include Light in August and Absalom, Absalom!

In addition to his novels, Faulkner worked as a screenwriter, contributing to films like To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep. He gained significant recognition after the publication of The Portable Faulkner by Malcolm Cowley and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949 for his profound impact on the modern American novel. Two of his works, A Fable (1954) and The Reivers (1962), earned the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Faulkner passed away on July 6, 1962, due to a heart attack. He remains a pivotal figure in American literature, with his influence extending to writers across the world.