Hear the voice of William Faulkner, winner of the 1949 Novel Prize for Literature, faithfully recorded and also transcribed in print. The University of Virginia’s Special Collections Library has put together an online archive of several of Faulkner’s lectures, readings, and speeches in and around universities in the state of Virginia, primarily from 1957 and 1958, when he served as UVA’s first Writer in Residence.

Particularly moving are the recordings of his “A Word to Virginians” speech about civil rights, and his “Advice to Young Writers” speech to an undergraduate writing class: “Who better to save man’s humanity than the writer, the poet, the artist, since who should fear the loss of it more, since the humanity of man is the artist’s life’s blood?” –from “Advice to Young Writers”

Also collected are essays, news clippings, photographs, and other relevant historical pieces that help contextualize and explain Faulkner’s significance. All of this is viewable for free here: http://faulkner.lib.virginia.edu/.

Photo Credit: William Faulkner Collection, Special Collection, University of Virginia Library