When was Colin Wilson born and where did he grow up?
Colin Henry Wilson was born on the 26th of June 1931 in Leicester. His father worked in a shoe factory while his mother managed their household.
Questions about Colin Wilson
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What book made Colin Wilson famous at age twenty-four?
Gollancz published The Outsider by the 24-year-old Wilson in 1956. This best-selling work examined social alienation through figures like Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T.E. Lawrence, Vaslav Nijinsky and Vincent van Gogh.
How did Abraham Maslow influence Colin Wilson's later philosophy?
Abraham Maslow contacted Wilson in 1963 after reading The Age of Defeat from 1959. They corresponded regularly and met before Maslow died in 1970, leading Wilson to write New Pathways in Psychology: Maslow and the Post-Freudian Revolution which appeared in 1972.
Which books did Colin Wilson publish about the occult and paranormal claims?
Wilson published The Occult: A History in 1971 featuring interpretations on Aleister Crowley, George Gurdjieff, Helena Blavatsky, Kabbalah, primitive magic, Franz Mesmer, Grigori Rasputin, Daniel Dunglas Home and Paracelsus. He also wrote a biography titled Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast and later works such as The Geller Phenomenon and The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved.
What science fiction series did Colin Wilson create based on Roald Dahl's suggestion?
Roald Dahl suggested writing a novel for children which inspired the four-volume Spider-World series by Colin Wilson. This series began with The Tower in 1987 and ended with Shadowland in 2003.
When did Colin Wilson die and where is his archive held today?
Colin Wilson died on the 5th of December 2013 after suffering pneumonia following a major spinal operation in 2011. His archive is held at the Manuscripts and Special Collections Department at the University of Nottingham containing his entire published work plus manuscripts correspondence and journals.