-
William was born at his grandparents' house in Newquay, Cornwall, England. The house, called Karenza, Cornish for 'love' -
During his childhood, William Golding's father, a schoolmaster, encouraged his scientific and intellectual curiosity, while his mother, an activist for the women's suffrage movement,
-
William Golding's academic career involved studying Natural Sciences and then English Literature at Brasenose College, Oxford University, where he earned a B.A. in 1934.
-
William Golding graduated from Oxford in 1935 with an MA, after studying English literature, and in 1937 with a Diploma in Education. He had initially begun with a science degree, but switched to English after two years at Brasenose College. -
Golding was engaged to Molly Evans, a woman from Marlborough, who was well-liked by both of his parents. However, he broke off the engagement and married Ann Brookfield, an analytical chemist, on 30 September 1939 -
During World War II, William Golding joined the Royal Navy and served for approximately six years, fighting in battles such as the sinking of the Bismarck and participating in the D-Day invasion of Normandy as a commander of a rocket-launching craft -
William Golding had a multi-faceted career as an English novelist, poet, and playwright, beginning with his first published work, the poetry collection Poems (1935). After service in the Royal Navy during World War II, he returned to teaching and writing, publishing his most famous novel, Lord of the Flies, in 1954. His career continued with other novels like The Inheritors and The Spire, earning him the Booker Prize in 1980
-
Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies was Golding's first novel. Golding got the idea for the plot from The Coral Island, a children's adventure novel with a focus on Christianity and the supposed civilising influence of British colonialism. -
William Golding was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983 because the Swedish Academy recognized his novels for illuminating the human condition through realistic narrative art and a blend of myth and allegory. -
In 1985, Golding and his wife moved to a house called Tullimaar in Perranarworthal, near Truro, Cornwall. He died of heart failure eight years later on 19 June 1993, at age 81.