DORIS LESSING

Fiction, Libretto, Non-Fiction, Short Stories

Nobel Prize for Literature 2007 Winner She was the eleventh (and oldest) woman to win the prize.

Born: Persia (Iran) October 22, 1919

Died: November 17, 2013 (at age 94)

 She left school at the age of 14 and was self-educated ever since
 She moved to London, where her first novel was published, The Grass Singing (1950).
 The Grass Singing (1950) - The book explores the complacency and shallowness of white colonial
society in Southern Africa and established Lessing as a talented young novelist.
 She is regarded as one of the most important post-war writers in English.
 Her works focused on 20th century issues from politics of race.
 Children of Violence series (1952-1969) was influenced by Lessing’s rejection of a domestic family
role and her involvement with communism. The novels are autobiographical. It is about the story of
Martha Quest, a girl growing up in Africa who young despite trying to avoid the life her mother has
led.
 A Proper Message (1954) describes the unhappiness of the marriage and Martha's eventual rejection
of it.
 Ripple from the Storm (1958), novel of ideas; exploring Marxism and Martha’s increasing political
awareness.
 The Golden Notebook (1962), Lessing is identified with the feminist movement. The novel talks
about Anne Wulf, a writer caught in a personal crisis and artistic crisis, who sees her life divided into
different roles – women, lover, writer, political activist. Anna suffered a mental breakdown but she
was able to find a new wholeness which she wrote in her last book.
 Briefing for a Descent into Hell (1971) and The Summer Before the Dark (1973) was very much
related for the reason that it talks about an individual’s mental breakdown from the pressures of social
conformity.
 Briefing for a Descent into Hell is about a man who is found wandering the streets of London with
no memory of ‘normal’ life, while Kate, the central character of The Summer Before the Dark,
achieves an enlightenment through what doctors would describe as a breakdown.
 In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s Doris Lessing added a touch of fantasy and science fiction at the
end of ‘Children of Violence’ and Briefing for a Descent into Hell from the ‘Canopus in Argos’
series.
 The fourth book from the series, The Making of the Representatives for Planet 8, was adapted by
Philip Glass as an opera, with a libretto by the author.
 It was on the books, Diary of a Good Neighbour (1983) and If the Old Could… (1984), where she
returned to realist fiction. The books were sent to her publisher under the pseudonym Jane Somers
but were turned down for publication several times and when published had only small print runs and
few reviews. When the truth was revealed, the books were reprinted to much greater acclaim.
 Lessing’s more recent novel have continued to confront taboos and preconceptions, generating
different and conflicting critical opinions.
 The Good Terrorist (1985), Lessing returned into the political arena. The book was about a group of
political activists who set up a squat in London. It was awarded with WH Smith Literary Award.
 The Fifth Child (1988) is also concerned with alienation and dangers inherent in closed social group.
A married couple reacts to hedonism and excesses of the 1960’s. Their fifth child, grows as a
malevolent, troll-like and angry figure who quickly disrupts the family idyll.
 The first volume of her autobiography, Under My Skin (1994), won the James Tait Black Memorial
Prize (for biography), followed by a second volume, Walking in the Shade: Volume II of My
Autobiography 1949-1962 (1967).
 Ben, In the World (2000), a sequel to The Fifth Child.
 The Sweetest Dream (2001), which follows the fortunes of a family through the twentieth century,
set in London during the 1960s and contemporary Africa.
 the grandmothers (2003), a collection of four short novels centered on an unconventional extended
family
 Time Bites (2004), a selection of essays based on her life experiences
 Alfred and Emily (2008), which explores the lives of her parents. She was made a Companion of
Honour by the British Government in 1999, and was President of Booktrust, the educational charity
promoting books and reading.
 In 2001, she received the David Cohen British Literature Prize.
 On Not Winning the Nobel Prize (2008) is the full text of the lecture she gave to the Swedish
Academy when accepting the prize.
 She was ranked 5th on The Times’ 50 greatest British writers since 1945.
 Lessing published more than 50 novels before her death.

Reference:
https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/doris-lessing