Contents
Doris Lessing
Writing The Golden Notebook and fiction about women, politics and social division.
The Grass Is Singing · The Golden Notebook
- Born
- 22 October 1919
- Birthplace
- Kermanshah, Iran
- Died
- 17 November 2013
More people
Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing was a British novelist who drew on colonial Africa, London life and speculative worlds.
Early life
Southern Africa
Moved with her family to Southern Rhodesia in 1925.
Self-education
Continued reading independently after leaving school.
Career
- 1949
London
Moved to Britain with a completed novel manuscript.
- 1950s–1960s
Literary prominence
Published African fiction and increasingly experimental novels.
- 2007
Nobel Prize
Received the literature prize at age 87.
Selected work
The Grass Is Singing
Examined racial hierarchy in colonial Rhodesia.
The Golden Notebook
Fragmented a writer’s life across several notebooks.
Canopus in Argos
Developed a sequence of speculative novels.
Beyond work
Campaigning
Participated in anti-nuclear activism.
Political journey
Broke with the Communist Party after having been a member.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Nobel Prize biography and award ↗Photo: Doris_lessing_20060312_(jha).jpg : Elke Wetzig ( elya ) derivative work: PRA ( talk ). CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
