Doris Lessing

British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer, and short story writer (1919-2013) · United Kingdom · Writers · Died at 94

Doris Lessing is read about 1,387 times a day, in 108 languages.

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" Doris Lessing spent half a century mapping the internal wars of women and the fractures of civilization, and the world caught up late.

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A life in dates

2013Died17 November 20132008Order of Mapungubwe in GoldAward2007Nobel Prize in LiteratureAward2001David Cohen PrizeAwardPrincess of Asturias Literary PrizeAward1999Catalonia International PrizeAwardHonorary DoctorateAward1995James Tait Black Memorial PrizeAward1994Årets budeieAward1989Grinzane Cavour PrizeAward1987Trevi awardAward1986WH Smith Literary AwardAward1985“This world is run by people who know how to do things. They know how things work. They are equipped. Up there, there's a layer of people who run everything.”In their wordsThe Good Terrorist (1985)Read the whole statement

1984“In the writing process, the more the story cooks, the better. The brain works for you even when you are at rest. I find dreams particularly useful.”In their words22 April 1984Interview with Herbert Mitgang, "Mrs. Lessing Addresses Some of Life's Puzzles", The New York Times, (22 April 1984)Read the whole statement

1981Austrian State Prize for European LiteratureAward1976Prix Médicis étrangerAward1973“Laughter is by definition healthy.”In their wordsThe Summer Before the Dark (1973)Read the whole statement

1969“That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way.”In their wordsThe Four-Gated City (1969)Read the whole statement

1954Somerset Maugham AwardAward1952“In university they don't tell you that the greater part of the law is learning to tolerate fools.”In their wordsMartha Quest (1952), Part III, ch. 2Read the whole statement

1950“It is terrible to destroy a person's picture of himself in the interests of truth or some other abstraction.”In their wordsThe Grass Is Singing, ch. 2 (1950)Read the whole statement

1919Born22 October 1919

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Dorisa Lesinga (cropped)

Canopus 2

DLessing-BW

Doris Lessing - SheSaid ansichtkaart

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Doris lessing 20060312 (square)

Doris lessing 20060312

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In their own words 10

Doris Lessing

10 statements, newest first

This world is run by people who know how to do things. They know how things work. They are equipped. Up there, there's a layer of people who run everything.
1985, The Good Terrorist (1985), Own words
In the writing process, the more the story cooks, the better. The brain works for you even when you are at rest. I find dreams particularly useful.
Apr 22, 1984, Interview with Herbert Mitgang, "Mrs. Lessing Addresses Some of Life's Puzzles", The New York Times, (22 April 1984), Own words
You can only learn to be a better writer by actually writing. I don't know much about creative writing programs.
Apr 22, 1984, Interview with Herbert Mitgang, "Mrs. Lessing Addresses Some of Life's Puzzles," The New York Times (22 April 1984), Own words

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Awards

Order of Mapungubwe in Gold2008

Nobel Prize in Literature2007

David Cohen Prize2001

Princess of Asturias Literary Prize2001

Catalonia International Prize1999

Honorary Doctorate, The Open University1999

James Tait Black Memorial Prize1995

Årets budeie1994

Grinzane Cavour Prize1989

Trevi award1987

WH Smith Literary Award1986

Austrian State Prize for European Literature1981

Prix Médicis étranger1976

Somerset Maugham Award1954

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature

In their orbit

Spouse: Gottfried Lessing

About this person

Born in Qajar Iran to British parents in 1919, Lessing moved at six to Southern Rhodesia, where she stayed until 1949, when she left for London. Her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, appeared in 1950; over the next two decades she built the five-volume Children of Violence sequence, then published The Golden Notebook in 1962 - a book that became a landmark of feminist literature. She wrote The Good Terrorist in 1985 and the five-novel science fiction series Canopus in Argos between 1979 and 1983. In 2001 she received the David Cohen Prize for lifetime achievement in British literature. When the Nobel came in 2007, she was 87 - the prize's oldest winner - and The Times would rank her fifth among the greatest British writers since 1945.

Country

United Kingdom

In common with Doris

Naomi WattsAlso in Adoration (2013)

Nigel HawthorneAlso in Memoirs of a Survivor (1981)John ThawAlso in The Grass Is Singing (1981)

René FéretAlso in Rue du retrait (2001)

Robin WrightAlso in Adoration (2013)

John KaniAlso in The Grass Is Singing (1981)

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