While Lord of the Flies remains a widely read and much studied work of twentieth-century fiction, the rest of Golding’s creative output has suffered from a dearth of serious critical attention in the past two decades. However, the novels themselves and the crucial insights provided by John Carey’s recent biography and Judy Carver’s memoir reveal a more complex portrait of an individual acutely aware of contemporary issues of class, gender and sexuality, who, while tortured by severe bouts of guilt and dejection, nevertheless took joy and optimism from the natural world; from the whole range of classical antiquity; from ground-breaking developments in science; and from the power of language and storytelling to make readers see themselves, each other and the world anew.

Therefore, we have put together a programme of papers which look to move beyond the overweening moralism of past scholarship and the worn categories of good and evil, allegory, pessimism, science vs religion, male vs female, modernity vs post-modernity, and original sin. We are also delighted to announce that we will be hosting a special in-conversation event with speculative fiction authors Una McCormack and Nina Allan, as well as a talk by Adam Gutch about his prospective animated adaptation of The Inheritors, Golding’s second novel.

All are very welcome to attend and are warmly encouraged to take part in the discussion. Please register via Eventbrite. The symposium will be live-streamed on Zoom and participants will receive an attendance link via the email they registered with. We look forward very much to seeing you there.

Contact: williamgolding2021@gmail.com

Hosts: Arabella Currie (Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, University of Exeter) and Bradley Osborne (PhD student, University of Exeter)

Supported by the Leverhulme Trust and the University of Exeter.