To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Faulkner’s birth, National Public Radio will broadcast "Centennial Faulkner," a three-hour special hosted by Stacy Keach. Each of the three one-hour segments, to be broadcast over three nights September 23, 24, and 25, will examine a different aspect of Faulkner’s life and work, with commentary by Shelby Foote and other writers and scholars, and will also include a radio drama adapted from a Faulkner short story. All three segments are scheduled to be rebroadcast on Saturday, September 27. For more information, check out this article that originally appeared in the Oxford Town weekly newspaper (September 1997)

C-SPAN2 to broadcast portion of Faulkner Conference

C-SPAN2 will broadcast a discussion on Faulkner and American Culture on Saturday, September 27, 1997, at 8:55 p.m. ET. The broadcast features a group of scholars who presented papers at the 24th annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, held July 27-August 1. Those considering how William Faulkner affected, and was affected by, American Culture include Doreen Fowler, author of Faulkner: The Return of The Repressed, David Minter, author of William Faulkner: His Life and Work, and John Irwin, author of Doubling and Incest/Repetition and Revenge: A Speculative Reading of Faulkner. 

A Party to Honor William Faulkner in New Orleans

Thursday, September 25, is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nobel Prize-winning novelist William Faulkner -- and the opening date for "Words & Music: A Literary Feast in New Orleans." In what they hope will become an annual event, the nonprofit Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society Inc. will present a writers' conference, a book market, music and New Orleans cuisine. The heart of the four-day festival is the writers' conference featuring Pulitzer Prize winners Robert Olen Butler and Shirley Ann Grau, among many others. Panels and workshops cost $12.50 each; multi-day passes are available. There also will be a luncheon with historian Shelby Foote ($50), a Jazz Age Dance and Dessert ($15) and other special events. For information, call (504) 586-1609. 

Lost Faulkner Teleplays Found  

Two scripts written by William Faulkner for television during the 1950s and based on his own work were rediscovered recently by a graduate student in New York City's Museum of Television and Radio. The scripts, previously believed to be lost or destroyed, were adaptations written by Faulkner for television for his short stories "The Brooch" and "Shall Not Perish," and both were broadcast on The Lux Video Theatre, a dramatic television show that aired on CBS and NBC from 1950 to 1057. For more details, check out this press release. (July 1997)

  'Town and the Fury' 

The Faulkner statue to be dedicated on his birthday in front of the Oxford City Hall has drawn fire from Faulkner’s family, who wish to respect Faulkner’s lifelong desire for privacy. Meanwhile, city officials cut down a magnolia tree to make room for the statue, prompting outrage and criticism for the way the city has handled the Faulkner statue project. (February 1997).

"William Faulkner Remains a Mystery," by Hillel Italie (1997) 

"Trespass at Your Own Risk," by Hillel Italie (1997) 

"Faulkner in Hollywood," by Hillel Italie (1997)

"Ghosts of the South," by Arthur Hirsch (September 22, 1997)

"A region apart," by Curtis Wilkie (September 14, 1997)

"William Faulkner’s literary legacy," by J. Peder Zane  (September 21, 1997)   
"On Faulkner: Elizabeth Spencer, Lee Smith, Reynolds Price," by J. Peder Zane (September 21, 1997)

"Faulkner poem to be published for first time in special edition." (1997)

"Bill Faulkner: The giant is turning 100," by Mark Hinson (June 22, 1997)

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation of Washington, D.C., is sponsoring a reading of the complete text of The Sound and the Fury on Thursday, September 25. The reading will begin at noon and continue until 10:30 p.m. with a party following. It will be held at Politics and Prose Bookstore at 5015 Connecticut Ave. in Washington, D.C. The store is asking for a small donation to go to the PEN/Faulkner charity. Among those reading will be several celebrity guests, including Jim Lehrer and some D.C.-area writers. The event will be covered by National Public Radio, as well. For more information call the store at 202-364-1919.

Oxford to dedicate statue honoring the man, University to honor the writer  

In Oxford, Mississippi, Faulkner’s hometown for most of his life, both the city and the University of Mississippi plan celebrations honoring the man and the writer on his 100th birthday. 
The celebration begins in the Oxford courthouse square at 10 a.m., when the City of Oxford will dedicate a statue of William Faulkner by Mississippi sculptor William Beckwith during a program that will include a keynote address by the Honorable John Brademas, President Emeritus of New York University and former member of Congress, and comments by the Right Reverend A.C. Marble Jr., Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, and fellow Mississippi authors Shelby Foote and Willie Morris. 

At 2 p.m., the celebration moves to Fulton Chapel on the University of Mississippi campus. The University-sponsored program of tributes to Faulkner and readings from his work will include comments by the Right Reverend Duncan Montgomery Gray Jr., Bishop Emeritus, Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, Professors Evans Harrington and Donald Kartiganer, Richard Howorth of Square Books in Oxford, and Oxford author Larry Brown. 

At 3:30 p.m., the University's Sesquicentennial Committee will serve cake honoring Faulkner’s 100th birthday in the Lyceum Circle on the Ole Miss campus. And then finally, at 6 p.m., Square Books will have a toast to Faulkner at its Off-Square Books location -- no speeches, no readings, just a simple toast. 

Charlottesville to serve birthday cake, film festival in October  

Charlottesville, Virginia, home of the University of Virginia and sometime home of Faulkner late in his life, will celebrate the Faulkner centennial with a number of events. 

On September 25 beginning at 4 p.m., birthday cake will be served to the public on the steps of the Alderman Library on the University of Virginia campus. University Librarian Karin Wittenborg will speak, and free Faulkner T-shirts (courtesy of Vintage Press, a key publisher of Faulkner novels today) will be awarded to the first 100 to buy a Faulkner book from the University bookstore on site. 

On October 31, the Virginia Film Festival will present Intruder in the Dust, based on Faulkner’s novel and filmed in his hometown of Oxford, where it premiered in 1949. 

In 1957, Faulkner became the first Writer-in-Residence at the University of Virginia, and he would continue to hold positions off-and-on at UVa until his death in 1962, dividing his time between Oxford and Charlottesville. 
 

More than 10,000 people are expected to attend a three-day celebration honoring the birth of a colicky baby in this north Mississippi town 100 years ago. 

The William Faulkner Centennial Celebration in New Albany, Mississippi, scheduled for September 25-27, will honor the creative spirit of Mississippi and celebrate the people, places, and events that shaped one native son. The festivities will include a community birthday celebration on the courthouse lawn, educational lectures and workshops involving Faulkner scholars and family members, performances of Faulkner’s work, art exhibits, an arts and crafts festival, gospel, bluegrass, country, and blues music. 
Films related to Faulkner’s life and work will be available for viewing. A special exhibit created in for the author's birthday, Faulkner’s World: The Photographs of Martin J. Dain, will open in New Albany before travelling in 13 states. Throughout the weekend, participants will be encouraged to visit the region's historical points of interest connected to the Faulkner family. 

There is no registration fee for the celebration itself, but certain events require that you purchase tickets. For more information, call the Union County Development Association at 888-534-8232. 

Exhibitions at Ole Miss showcase Faulkner  

A number of exhibitions on the University of Mississippi campus are devoted to William Faulkner. The University Museums is actually sponsoring two Faulkner-related exhibitions. The first, Faulkner’s World: The Photographs of Martin J. Dain, features photographs taken by Dain in Oxford during the 1960s. It is scheduled to appear through September 27, when the exhibition will begin a 13-state tour. 

Also in the University Museums is The Paintings of Maud Butler Faulkner, which will be on display through October 5. These are paintings by Faulkner’s mother, who died in 1960, only two years before her eldest son's death. An article about Maud Butler by her granddaughter (and William Faulkner’s niece), Dean Faulkner Wells, appeared in the September 1997 issue of Southern Living. The museum's hours are Tuesday-Saturday 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Sunday 1:00- 4:00 p.m. 
In Barnard Observatory, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture is sponsoring an exhibition titled  William Faulkner: The Cofield Collection. These photographs, by Oxford photographyer Jack Cofield and his son, chronicle nearly the entire life of Faulkner, including publicity photos of Faulkner taken upon the publication of Sanctuary and later photos of Faulkner in his full fox-hunting habit. Hours are Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m. 
Selections from both the Cofield and the Dain photo collections are available online in the Center's Southern Media Archive. 

The Department of Archives and Special Collections at the John Davis Williams Library is sponsoring A Faulkner 100: The Centennial Exhibition. The exhibit includes a mishmash of items and manuscripts, including materials from Faulkner’s great-grandfather, the Old Colonel, upon whom he based several characters in his fiction. The exhibit will continue through December 22. Hours are Monday-Friday 830 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

This page was last modified on Monday, October 09, 2000 at 11:55 AM -0500