William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs II was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced both underground and popular culture and literature. Much of Burroughs's work is highly experimental and features unreliable narrators. Also noted as semi-autobiographical, his work often drew from his experiences with drug addiction, and featured his various places of residence as settings in much of his work. With Brion Gysin, Burroughs popularized the cut-up, an aleatory literary technique. His writing also engaged frequent mystical, occult, or otherwise magical themes, constant preoccupations in both his fiction and real life.

Before achieving literary fame, Burroughs studied English and anthropology at Harvard University, attended medical school in Vienna, and served briefly in the U.S. Army. He struggled with substance abuse, developing a heroin addiction that significantly impacted his life and work.

Burroughs popularized the cut-up technique with Brion Gysin. He was convicted of manslaughter in absentia for the death of his second wife. Jack Kerouac called Burroughs the 'greatest satirical writer since Jonathan Swift'.

Born into a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri, Burroughs' personal life was marked by tragedy and addiction. He had one son, William S. Burroughs Jr., who also became a writer.