William S. Burroughs was an American writer and multimedia artist from St. Louis, Missouri, who began publishing in the late 1940s and became associated with the Beat Generation and avant‑garde spoken‑word and experimental music scenes. Employing techniques such as the cut‑up method and tape collage, he recorded spoken‑word albums and collaborated with musicians across experimental, electronic and industrial strands, contributing to countercultural literary movements and to the development of alternative sound practices.
