William Cuthbert Faulkner was a seminal American writer known for his profound and pioneering novels and short stories predominantly set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, a reflection of Lafayette County, Mississippi where he spent the majority of his life. Born in New Albany, Mississippi, Faulkner's family relocated to Oxford, Mississippi during his childhood.

Following the onset of World War I, Faulkner enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, though he never saw combat. He then attended the University of Mississippi for three semesters without obtaining a degree. Faulkner's literary journey began in New Orleans, where he penned his first novel, Soldiers' Pay (1925). He returned to Oxford and crafted Sartoris (1927), his inaugural venture into the Yoknapatawpha County setting. His portfolio expanded with notable works such as The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I Lay Dying (1930), Light in August, Absalom, Absalom!, and The Wild Palms. Additionally, Faulkner contributed to the film industry as a screenwriter, most notably for Howard Hawks's adaptations of To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep.

Faulkner's acclaim soared with the publication of Malcolm Cowley's The Portable Faulkner and his receipt of the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his powerful and unique contribution to the modern American novel." He remains the only Mississippi-born Nobel laureate. His works A Fable (1954) and The Reivers (1962) garnered Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction. His legacy endures as Ralph Ellison hailed him as "the greatest artist the South has produced." Faulkner's influence profoundly impacted the generation of Latin American writers in the latter half of the 20th century, with notable figures such as Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa acknowledging his impact on their work.