Which author won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1955 for "A Fable"?

William Faulkner won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1955 for “A Fable.”

Published in 1954, the novel is set in France during World War I and unfolds over roughly one week in 1918. Its plot centers on Corporal Stefan, a figure associated with the reincarnation of Jesus, who persuades thousands of soldiers to refuse suicidal trench-war orders. Faulkner uses the wartime setting to explore obedience, sacrifice, violence, and the possibility of collective resistance.

“A Fable” was an ambitious project for Faulkner, who worked on it for more than a decade and hoped it would become his greatest book. It also won the 1955 National Book Award for Fiction. Readers sometimes confuse the novel’s 1954 publication date with the 1955 award year, but the stored answer correctly identifies the author and prize context.

The book is also sometimes discussed as a precursor to Joseph Heller’s later antiwar novel “Catch-22,” although the two works use very different styles and settings.