PHOTO: Joyce Faulkner, author, engineer, and publisher, whose unique narratives bring history and humanity together in evocative harmony.
An Insight Into Courage, Identity, And Storytelling
Joyce Faulkner delves into historical convictions, personal connections, and her writing process, balancing meticulous research with dynamic narratives that bridge fact and fiction across genres.
Joyce Faulkner, a storyteller of remarkable breadth and depth, draws upon the extraordinary and the intimate to illuminate the tapestry of human experience. Her narratives, whether historic or haunting, resonate with a profound sense of place and a fierce dedication to truth—even amidst fiction. Rooted in her upbringing in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and shaped by an academic journey spanning engineering and business, Faulkner’s writing is a testament to a boundless curiosity and an astute empathy. Her works fuse meticulous research with rich creativity, resulting in novels where archival material dances seamlessly with imagined voices, bringing history to life with poignant immediacy.
Faulkner’s writing is not merely an excavation of history; it is a dialogue with the past. Through Garrison Avenue, she confronts the horrors of the 1912 Fort Smith lynching, using real testimonies and events to create scenes that leave readers shaken, aware of the depths of injustice—but also enthralled by her craft. Her ability to weave fact with fiction extends to Julia and Maud, where scandal and human frailty unfold through historical letters and her fictional narrator. These works uncover the darker shades of human nature, yet Faulkner’s narrators, grounded in their own intricate humanity, shine with resilience and purpose.
Her novels are deeply personal too, often inspired by her life experiences and encounters with the shadows of history and modern-day horror. Windshift, influenced by the indomitable women of her mother’s generation, crafts heroes with unflinching resolve, while Vala’s Bed delves into the immigrant’s odyssey, shaped by her reflections on post-war identity. Even darker territory, as exemplified by Username, harnesses Faulkner’s own brushes with the tragedies of true crime, inviting readers to confront the real and imagined terrors lurking close to home.
In Joyce Faulkner’s hands, stories transcend genre—they become acts of preservation, empathy, and wonder. Her tales remind us that history’s echoes are woven deeply into both the collective and personal—and that the art of storytelling is, at its heart, a crusade for connection.
Your historical novel Garrison Avenue explores the 1912 Fort Smith lynching—how did you balance factual archive material with fictional character development?
My latest historical fiction novel, Julia and Maud, is a true Fort Smith, Arkansas, event from the late Victorian era. Maud Avery pursued a married businessman named Fagan Bourland. She also tormented Fagan’s wife, Julia, with obscene letters and drawings which she sent through the U.S. Mail. These letters survived centuries because…even in the 1800s…sending smut through the US Mail was a federal offence. And those dirty letters were still available in a Federal Archive where my coauthor, Professor Tom Wing, found them. Fort Smith, during this era, also bristled with other intrigues, characters, and post Civil War events. I love having a fictional narrator who participates in the action. In this case…I created a teenaged boy named Archie Biggs to not just narrate but participate in the story. He meets all these real folks and introduces readers to them. Warts and letters and all.
Windshift centres on Shirley Maxwell navigating female restrictions—how did you research and embody early twentieth century female perspectives?
Garrison Avenue…also a historical novel…is about a Fort Smith lynching in 1912. Much like I did with my later novel, Julia and Maud…my new-to-town, narrator is fictional. Mamie knows and comments on the real participants in this tragedy. Because the perpetrators were gathered up and tried, I had real names and testimonies. The reader learns who did what and why through, Mamie, the narrator. For example, I found a handwritten interview of two of the perpetrators. They participated in the lynching of the young boy. Their interviews were not even in the proper file. I found a paper documenting what they did stuffed behind a shelf. These men …like everyone else…walked away scot free. What they said sucked the air out of my lungs as they went to the very core of racist thought. So the reader could feel what I felt, I had Mamie board a trolly. At the next stop, these two men board and sit down behind her…and brag about what they did. I copied what they said in those hidden documents word for word. I hope readers find that scene as chilling as I do.
Vala’s Bed tells the story of a German woman adapting post war America—what drew you to explore immigrant identity through her voice?
Windshift centres on narrator Shirley Maxwell and three other fictional navigating female restrictions during World War Two. These women were my mother’s age, and I am sure her perspectives influenced mine. These ladies were my heroes from an early age. To write this book, I learned to fly…not just new planes but the old ones…just well enough and long enough to capture what these characters did during that war. I also travelled to Loch Haven, Pennsylvania, where Piper Cubs were built and I stayed in an Inn that very much resembled the Windshift Inn that I created for my book. I moved the site to Ohio for other reasons…but it closely resembles what happened in Pennsylvania. I had more fun researching and writing this book than all the other novels I’ve written so far. It won several awards from a variety of organisations…mostly because it turned out to be a hit topic for young women at the time.
Username grew from your response to true crime—how did your personal connection to the Geri case influence the novel’s emotional tone?
I visited Auschwitz in the early 2000s. Ironically, for all the horrors that took place there, I learned many things about survival there too. And I was inspired to write Vala’s Bed when I became attached to a picture of a young woman who died there. That led me back to Ohio where several Nazis migrated after the war and worked in the factories there before being arrested and sent to Israel for trial. That was the inspiration of Vala’s Bed.
