William Golding

1911–1993

1 series 3 books in order 1987–2000

William Golding was a British novelist, poet, and playwright who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in 1911 in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England, he was the son of a schoolmaster and a woman involved in the Women's Suffrage Movement. As a child, he admired authors such as H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. He began writing stories at age seven and attempted a novel at twelve. Golding studied English literature at Brasenose College, Oxford, and published a poetry collection titled Poems at age twenty-two. After graduating in 1935, he became a schoolteacher but was called to serve in the British Royal Navy during World War II. His experiences at sea influenced his writing. Golding's first novel, Lord of the Flies, was published in 1954 after being rejected by twenty-one publishers. It gained widespread recognition after its 1959 paperback release and became a staple in literature classes. He wrote five novels in ten years and was honored as a Commander of the British Empire in 1965. Later works included Pincher Martin, Free Fall, and The Pyramid. Golding's output declined in his later years, but he published Darkness Visible in 1979 and A Moving Target in 1982. He died in 1993, and a posthumous collection, The Double Tongue, was published in 1994.

Born

1911

Active years

1987–2000

Known for

To the Ends of the Earth

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