Doris
Lessing, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and author of The Golden
Notebook, has died aged 94.
The
British author died peacefully at her London home in the early hours of this
morning, a spokesman said.
Born
in Persia - modern day Iran - in 1919, Ms Lessing grew up in Southern
Rhodesia before emigrating to London after the Second World War with the
manuscript of her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, in her suitcase.
It
was published in 1950 and across the course of her life she produced 54 further
works, including poetry, two operas, short stories, plays and non-fiction.
In
2007, she became the oldest recipient of the Nobel Prize, aged 88, and only the
11th woman to win the award.
Jonathan
Clowes, her long time friend and agent, said today that he was greatly saddened
by the news.
He
said: "She was a wonderful writer with a fascinating and original mind; it
was a privilege to work for her and we shall miss her immensely."
The
writer is survived by her daughter Jean and granddaughters Anna
and Susannah. Her family has asked for privacy at this time.
Nicholas
Pearson, her editor at HarperCollins, said: "Doris's long life and career
was a great gift to world literature."
The
publishing house's UK chief executive, Charlie Redmayne, added:
"Doris Lessing was one of the great writers of our age. She was a
compelling storyteller with a fierce intellect and a warm heart who was not
afraid to fight for what she believed in. It was an honour for HarperCollins to
publish her."
Justifying
her Nobel Prize six years ago, the Academy described the author as an
"epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary
power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny".
In
response, Ms Lessing famously famously poked fun at the judges for snubbing her
work 40 years earlier. She joked: "So now they've decided they're going to
give it to me. So why? I mean, why do they like me any better now than they did
then?"
Source: skynews
Source: skynews
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