Colin Wilson

Colin Wilson (b. 1931) is a prolific English writer who first came to prominence as a philosopher and novelist. Wilson has since written widely on true crime, mysticism and other topics. He calls his philosophy phenomenological existentialism. Born and raised in Leicester, England, Wilson left school at 16. He worked in factories and at various occupations, and read in his spare time. Gollancz published the then 24-year-old Wilson’s The Outsider in 1956; the work examines the role of the social "outsider" in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures. Wilson discusses his perception of social alienation in artists’ works. The book became a best-seller and helped popularize existentialism in Britain.