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Doris Lessing, the Persian-born, Rhodesian-raised andLondon-residing novelist whose deeply autobiographicalwriting has swept across continents and reflects herengagement with the social and political issues of her time, won the 2007Nobel Prize in Literature.
Announcing the award in Stockholm, the Swedish Academydescribed her as "that epicist of the female experience, who withskepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilizationto scrutiny." The award comes with a 10 million Swedish crownhonorarium, about $1.6 million.
Ms. Lessing never finished high school and largely educated herselfthrough voracious reading. She has written dozens of books of fiction,as well as plays, nonfiction and two volumes of autobiography. She is the11th woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Ms. Lessing learned of the news from a group of reporters campedon her doorstep as she returned from a visit to the hospital with herson. "I was a bit surprised because I had forgotten about it actually,"she said. "My name has been on the short lisfor such a long time."
As the persistent sound of her ringing phonecame from inside the house, Ms. Lessing said thaton second thought, she was not as surprised"because this has been going on for something like40 years," referring to the number of times she hasbeen mentioned as a likely honoree. "Either theywere going to give it to me sometime before Ipopped off or not at all."
After a few moments, Ms. Lessing, who is sharp and a bit hard of hearing,excused herself to go inside. "Now I’m going to go in to answer my telephone," shesaid. "I swear Im going upstairs to find some suitable sentences, which I will be usingfrom now on."
Although Ms. Lessing is passionate about social and political issues, she is unlikelyto be as controveersial as the previous two winners, Orhan Pamuk of Turkey or HaroldPinter of Britain, whose views on current political situations led commentators tosuspect that the Swedish Academy was choosing its winners in part for nonliteraryreasons .
Ms. Lessing’s strongest legacy may be that she inspired a generation of feministswith her breakthrough novel, The Golden Notebook. In its citation, the SwedishAcademy said: "The burgeoning feminist movement saw it as a pioneering work,and it belongs to the handful of books that informed the 20th-century view of themale-female relationship."
Ms. Lessing wrote candidly about the inner lives of women and rejected thenotion that they should limit their lives to marriage and children. The Golden Notebook,published in 1962, tracked the story of Anna Wulf, a woman who wanted to live freelyand was, in some ways, Ms. Lessing’s alter ego.
Because she frankly described anger and aggression in women, she was attacked as"unfeminine." In response Ms. Lessing wrote, "Apparently what many women werethinking, feeling, experiencing came as a great surprise."
Announcing the award in Stockholm, the Swedish Academydescribed her as "that epicist of the female experience, who withskepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilizationto scrutiny." The award comes with a 10 million Swedish crownhonorarium, about $1.6 million.
Ms. Lessing never finished high school and largely educated herselfthrough voracious reading. She has written dozens of books of fiction,as well as plays, nonfiction and two volumes of autobiography. She is the11th woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Ms. Lessing learned of the news from a group of reporters campedon her doorstep as she returned from a visit to the hospital with herson. "I was a bit surprised because I had forgotten about it actually,"she said. "My name has been on the short lisfor such a long time."
As the persistent sound of her ringing phonecame from inside the house, Ms. Lessing said thaton second thought, she was not as surprised"because this has been going on for something like40 years," referring to the number of times she hasbeen mentioned as a likely honoree. "Either theywere going to give it to me sometime before Ipopped off or not at all."
After a few moments, Ms. Lessing, who is sharp and a bit hard of hearing,excused herself to go inside. "Now I’m going to go in to answer my telephone," shesaid. "I swear Im going upstairs to find some suitable sentences, which I will be usingfrom now on."
Although Ms. Lessing is passionate about social and political issues, she is unlikelyto be as controveersial as the previous two winners, Orhan Pamuk of Turkey or HaroldPinter of Britain, whose views on current political situations led commentators tosuspect that the Swedish Academy was choosing its winners in part for nonliteraryreasons .
Ms. Lessing’s strongest legacy may be that she inspired a generation of feministswith her breakthrough novel, The Golden Notebook. In its citation, the SwedishAcademy said: "The burgeoning feminist movement saw it as a pioneering work,and it belongs to the handful of books that informed the 20th-century view of themale-female relationship."
Ms. Lessing wrote candidly about the inner lives of women and rejected thenotion that they should limit their lives to marriage and children. The Golden Notebook,published in 1962, tracked the story of Anna Wulf, a woman who wanted to live freelyand was, in some ways, Ms. Lessing’s alter ego.
Because she frankly described anger and aggression in women, she was attacked as"unfeminine." In response Ms. Lessing wrote, "Apparently what many women werethinking, feeling, experiencing came as a great surprise."