William Golding was born in 1911. He was born in Cornwall at his grandmother’s home. He grew up in Wiltshire. His father was employed by Marlborough Grammar School from 1905 until his retirement. His mother kept house.

Golding went to Oxford and majored in science before changing his mind and his major to English Literature. His first published work, Poems was published by MacMillan and Company.

William Golding published various works beginning in September of 1954. They included Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors, Pincher Martin, and Free Fall. After realizing some measure of success with his published works, Golding resigned from teaching in 1961. He spent the next year at Hollins College located in Roanoke, Virginia. He was a writer-in-residence.

Golding’s work was awarded various commendations including the 1980 Booker Prize, the 1979 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and he captured the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature. William Golding’s work had his handprint on it because of his writing style. He used classical literature, mythology and Christian symbols to convey his stories and works of fiction. He would become notorious for using these elements in his writing.

William Golding did marry in 1939. He married Ann Brookfield and the couple had two children, Judy and David. In 1985, Golding would move his family back to a location close to the area where he was born in Cornwall. He would later die there.

Golding’s life was filled with interesting work and it was full of the unpredictable. He fought with the Royal Navy and was there on D-Day which signified the day the Battle of Normandy began.

William Golding died in 1993. Even in his death, William Golding managed to leave behind a novel to be published. The Double Tongue was published after Golding’s death.