An English textile designer, poet, novelist, translator and socialist activist. Associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement, he was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he played a significant role in propagating the early socialist movement in Britain.

Born to a wealthy middle-class family, he became interested in medievalism while at Oxford University. He then trained as an architect and developed close friendships with the Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and with the Neo-Gothic architect Philip Webb. In 1861, Morris founded a decorative arts firm with Burne-Jones, Webb and others including the painter Ford Madox Brown. Becoming highly fashionable and much in demand, the firm profoundly influenced interior decoration throughout the Victorian period, with Morris designing tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture and stained glass windows.

Morris is recognised as one of the most significant cultural figures of Victorian Britain. Although best known in his lifetime as a poet, he posthumously became better known for his designs.