that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny.

Background

• Born: October 22, 1919
• Place of birth: Bakhtaran, Iran
• Nationality: British
• Residence: London, United Kingdom
• Biographical highlights:
  • 1925 - Moves to Zimbabwe
  • 1939 - Marries Frank Charles Wisdom
  • 1943 - Divorces Frank Charles Wisdom
  • 1945 - Marries Gottfried Lessing
  • 1949 - Divorces, moves to London, establishes herself as a writer
  • 1950 - Debut as a novelist with The Grass is Singing
  • 1952-6 - Member of the British Communist party
  • 1954 - Wins Somerset Maugham Award
  • 1962 - Breakthrough novel with The Golden Notebook published
  • 1994 - Autobiographical Under My Skin published
  • 1995 - Wins James Tait Black Memorial Book Prize and Los Angeles Times Book Prize
  • 1997 - Autobiographical Walking in the Shade published
  • 2001 - The Sweetest Dream sequel in fictive form released
  • 2001 - Awarded David Cohen British Literary Prize, Companion of Honour from the Royal Society of Literature and Premio Principe de Asturias
  • 2002 - Wins S.T. Dupont Golden PEN Award
  • 2007 - Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature

• The Sweetest Dream
• The Golden Notebook
• Under My Skin: Volume One of My Autobiography, to 1949 (My Autobiography, To1949, Vol 1 1949)
• Walking in the Shade: Volume Two of My Autobiography--1949-1962
• Mara and Dann: An Adventure
• The Fifth Child
• The Grass is Singing
• Other Books by Doris Lessing

Featured Internet Links

• Fan page dedicated to Doris Lessing
• Wikipedia Entry
• BBC Four Audio Interview on 14 January 1987
• The Swedish Academy press release
• Bio and bibliography

  Search WWW Search The Nobel Prize Internet Archive

• Doris Lessing biography (submitted by Erhard Nail)
• Doris Lessing is the ideal Nobel Prize winner
• Doris Lessing: A Retrospective (submitted by Robert Abnehmen)