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Birth
He was born September 19, 1911 in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. His father was a schoolmaster and his mother was active in the Women's Suffrage Movement. -
First Novel
Since the age of seven, Golding had been writing stories. At the age of twelve he attempted to write a novel. -
College
He went to Brasenose College at Oxford University. He studied the natural sciences for two years before switching to an English major. -
First Literary Work Published
At the age of 22, a year before graduating from college, his first literary work was published. It was a poetry collection titled Poems. -
Teaching Career
After graduating from Oxford in 1935, Golding became a schoolmaster in Salisbury, Wiltshire. His experience teaching unruly boys would serve as inspiration for Lord of the Flies. His teaching career was interrupted in 1940 with the outbreak of World War II -
Marriage
He married Ann Brookfield, an analytical chemist. They had two children -
Royal Navy
Golding spent six years in the navy. During this time he came to love the sea and sailing. He fought battleships at the sinking of Bismarck and was placed in command of a rocket launching craft. -
Return to Teaching
At the end of WWII in 1945, he returned to his teaching and writing career. He taught philosophy and English. -
Lord of the Flies
After 21 rejections, Lord of the Flies was published. This book set the tone of his later work that would also involve the internal struggle between good and evil. This novel is still regarded as a classic. -
Other Work
While Golding was mainly a novelist, he also wrote plays, poetry, essays, and short stories. He published a play titled The Brass Butterfly and two collections of essays. -
Paperback Edition
Initially, the novel received mixed reviews and modest sales. However, the paperback publication of the novel made the book more accessible to students, and thus more popular. The novel's reputation grew, and critics viewed it as more than a simple adventure story. -
Teaching Resignation
In 1961 he resigned from teaching in order to focus all of his attention to writing. He spent the rest of the years as a writer in residence at Hollins College in Virginia. -
Lord of the Flies Movie
A year after Golding retired from teaching, Peter Brook made a film adaptation of Lord of the Flies. In 1990 a new version was released. -
Commander of the British Empire
His quality of work established him as one of the most distinguished writers of the late twentieth century. This view was further proven when he was named a Commander of the British Empire. -
Final Works
One of Golding's final works includes Rites of Passage, a novel that won the Booker McConnell Prize, the most prestigious award for English literature. It inspired two sequels. These novels portray life aboard a ship during the Napoleonic wars. -
Nobel Prize
He received he Nobel Prize for literature. -
Knighted
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. -
Death
He spent the last few years of his life living quietly with his wife in Cornwall, where he continued to write. He died of a heart attack. -
The Double Tongue
At the time of his death he was writing a manuscript titled "The Double Tongue." It focused on the fall of Hellenic culture and the rise of Roman civilization. It was published after his death.
