威廉·戈爾丁（William Golding，1911～1994）英國小說傢。生於英格蘭康沃爾郡一個知識分子傢庭，自小愛好文學。1930年遵父命入牛津大學學習自然科學，兩年後轉攻文學。1934年發錶瞭處女作——一本包括29首小詩的詩集（麥剋米倫當代詩叢之一）。1935年畢業於牛津大學，獲文學士學位，此後在一傢小劇團裏當過編導和演員。 194o年參加皇傢海軍，親身投入瞭當時的戰爭。 1945年退役，到學校教授英國文學，並堅持業餘寫作。1954年發錶瞭長篇小說《蠅王》，獲得巨大的聲譽。1955年成為皇傢文學會成員。1961年獲牛津大學文學碩士學位，同年辭去教職，專門從事寫作。

戈爾丁是個多産作傢，繼《蠅王》之後，他發錶的長篇小說有《繼承者》（1955）、《品徹·馬丁）（1956）、《自由墮落》（1959）、《塔尖》（1964）、《金字塔》（1967）、《看得見的黑暗》（1979）、《航程祭典》（1980）、《紙人》（1984）、《近方位）（1987）、《巧語》（1995）等。其中《航行祭典》獲布剋·麥剋內爾圖書奬。此外，他還寫過劇本、散文和短篇小說，並於1982 年齣版瞭文學評論集《活動的靶子》。

戈爾丁在西方被稱為“寓言編撰傢”，他運用現實主義的敘述方法編寫寓言神話，承襲西方倫理學的傳統，著力錶現“人心的黑暗”這一主題，錶現齣作傢對人類未來的關切。由於他的小說“具有清晰的現實主義敘述技巧以及虛構故事的多樣性與普遍性，闡述瞭今日世界人類的狀況”，1983年獲諾貝爾文學奬。

William Golding's unforgettable classic of boyhood adventure and the savagery of humanity comes to Penguin Classics in a stunning Graphic Deluxe Edition with a new foreword by Lois Lowry As provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, Lord of the Flies continues to ignite passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. William Golding's compelling story about a group of very ordinary boys marooned on a coral island has been labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, and even a vision of the apocalypse. But above all, it has earned its place as one of the indisputable classics of the twentieth century for readers of any age. This Penguin Classics Graphic Deluxe Edition features an array of special features to supplement the novel, including a foreword by Lois Lowry, an introduction by Stephen King, an essay by E. M. Forster, an essay on teaching and reading the novel and suggestions for further exploration by scholar Jennifer Buehler, and an extended note by E. L. Epstein, the publisher of the first American paperback edition of Lord of the Flies. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.