William Faulkner? Ernest Hemingway? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: Two major writers of the twentieth century disagreed sharply about the type of vocabulary that was advantageous in literary works. According to a literary legend Faulkner attacked Hemingway by saying he had “no courage”. Hemingway’s tightly circumscribed word choice was pedestrian. Hemingway punched back by stating that he did not need “ten-dollar words”. He also said that Faulkner’s writing had deteriorated because of his dependence on alcohol. Would you please examine this altercation to determine precisely what was said?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In April 1947 William Faulkner visited the University of Mississippi by invitation. He answered questions posed by students in a Creative Writing class, and his remarks were transcribed. After a multi-year delay the text was published in the Summer 1951 issue of the quarterly “The Western Review”.1 When asked to evaluate his own position in the literary pantheon Faulkner made a critical comment about Hemingway. Boldface has been added to excerpts:2
Q. If you don’t think it too personal, how do you rank yourself with contemporary writers?
A. 1. Thomas Wolfe: he had much courage and wrote as if he didn’t have long to live; 2. William Faulkner; 3. Dos Passos; 4. Ernest Hemingway: he has no courage, has never crawled out on a limb. He has never been known to use a word that might cause the reader to check with a dictionary to see if it is properly used; 5. John Steinbeck: at one time I had great hopes for him — now I don’t know.
. . .
Q. Mr. Faulkner, do you mind our repeating anything we have heard today outside of class?A. No. It was true yesterday, is true today, and will be true tomorrow.
Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
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