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William Golding was born in Cornwall, England in 1911. His mother was a strong supporter of the British Suffragette movement, while his father was a school teacher and a rationalist, where reason is valued over experience to gain knowledge and understand the world. -
Golding began his university education in 1930 studying science, in the footsteps of his father at Brasenose College in Oxford. By his third year, he switched his courses of study to pursue English Literature, his true interest as from an early age, he dreamed of becoming a poet. He graduated in 1935 with a BA in English and a Diploma in Education.
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As Golding aspired to be a poem, his first work was published in 1934, titled "Poems". -
From 1939 to 1961 (excluding WWII), Golding was a teacher in Salisbury at Bishop Wordsworth's School. He taught English and Philosophy. Also in 1939, he married his wife, Ann Brookfield, who he had 2 children with.
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From 1940 to 1945, Golding served in WWII as an officer of the Royal Navy. His experiences exposed him to the cruelty and barbarity of humanity. When he wrote about his experiences he said that "man produces evil, as a bee produces honey."
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In 1954, Golding published his acclaimed novel "Lord of the Flies". Golding combined his experiences in the Navy during the war and his interactions with schoolboys to create an allegorical text exploring the conflict between civlisation and savagery in every human being. His novel won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983. -
William Golding's other novels include: The Paper Men (1984), Darkness Visible (1979), The Spire (1964), Free Fall (1959), Pincher Martin (1955), and The Inheritors (1955).
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Golding died on June 19, 1993 due to a heart attack. He died in Perranarworthal, Cornwall.