Golding’s experience teaching unruly young boys would later serve as inspiration for his novel Lord of the Flies.Īlthough passionate about teaching from day one, in 1940 Golding temporarily abandoned the profession to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II. In 1935 Golding took a position teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury. Eventually, he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. TeachingĪfter college, Golding worked in settlement houses and the theater for a time. The collection was largely overlooked by critics. In 1934, a year before he graduated, William published his first work, a book of poetry aptly entitled Poems.

His father hoped he would become a scientist, but William opted to study English literature instead. Later in life, William would describe his childhood self as a brat, even going so far as to say, “I enjoyed hurting people.”Īfter primary school, William went on to attend Brasenose College at Oxford University. A frustrated child, he found an outlet in bullying his peers. When William was just 12 years old, he attempted, unsuccessfully, to write a novel. William received his early education at the school his father ran, Marlborough Grammar School.

His father, Alex, worked as a schoolmaster. His mother, Mildred, was an active suffragette who fought for women’s right to vote. He was raised in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard. William Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. On June 19, 1993, he died in Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England. In 1983, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1954 he published his first novel, Lord of the Flies. He temporarily left teaching in 1940 to join the Royal Navy. William Golding started teaching English and philosophy in Salisbury in 1935.

William golding