Oxford in Lafayette County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)

William Faulkner

— Mississippi Writers Trail —

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 1, 2023

1. William Faulkner Marker

Inscription. Winner of the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature, William Cuthbert Faulkner was born in New Albany on September 25, 1897, and moved with his family to Oxford as a child. He made an indelible mark on American letters by bringing a modernist literary sensibility to storytelling about his native South. His representations of class, race, history, and the land, set in the fictional Mississippi county of Yoknapatawpha, are drawn in vivid detail in novels such as Sartoris: The Sound and the Fury: As I Lay Dying; Light in August; Absalom, Absalom!; The Hamlet: Go Down Moses; and others. He won the Pulitzer Prize for A Fable, whose outline is penciled on the walls of his office here at Rowan Oak, and for The Reivers, published in the year of his death. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, he observed that “the human heart in conflict with itself” is the theme of all good writing. Faulkner died July 6, 1962.

Erected 2019 by Mississippi Writers Trail Advisory Committee.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. In addition, it is included in the Mississippi Writers Trail

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series list. A significant historical date for this entry is September 25, 1897.

Location. 34° 21.515′ N, 89° 31.437′ W. Marker is in Oxford, Mississippi, in Lafayette County. It is on Old Taylor Road 0.1 miles west of South 10th Street, on the right when traveling west. Marker is at the entrance to Rowan Oak, Faulkner's estate. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 916 Old Taylor Rd, Oxford MS 38655, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the North Mississippi Hills. It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Rowan Oak (a few steps from this marker); Jacob Thompson's "Home Place" (within shouting distance of this marker); Delta Gamma Fraternity (approx. 0.4 miles away); Oxford-University United Methodist Church

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 1, 2023

2. William Faulkner Marker

(approx. 0.4 miles away); Porter L. Fortune, Jr. Cultural Center (approx. 0.4 miles away); Falkner House (approx. 0.4 miles away); University High School (approx. half a mile away); 2008 Presidential Debate (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Oxford.

Also see . . . William Faulkner. Wikipedia entry on the author and Nobel Prize winner. (Submitted on April 6, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

William Cuthbert Faulkner (1897-1962) image. Click for full size.

Carl Van Vechten via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (Public Domain), December 11, 1954

3. William Cuthbert Faulkner (1897-1962)

A longtime resident of Oxford, he based his fictional Yoknapatawpha County on Lafayette County but only briefly attended the nearby University of Mississippi.

Credits. This page was last revised on April 6, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 6, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 220 times since then and 34 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 6, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.