Nobel Prize in Literature

Doris Lessing has been awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. She is a prolific author who is best known for The Golden Notebook, which was published in 1962. She lives in London and is still writing as she approaches her 88th birthday. Her award didn't come without some controversy. Outspoken literary critic, Harold Bloom, didn't agree with the committee's decision. He says, "Although Ms. Lessing at the beginning of her writing career had a few admirable qualities, I find her work for the past 15 years quite unreadable...fourth-rate science fiction." However, others feel that the criticism comes more from her past political beliefs than from her ability as a writer.

During the announcement of her award, the academy described her most famous work by saying, "The burgeoning feminist movement saw it [The Golden Notebook] as a pioneering work and it belongs to the handful of books that inform the 20th century view of the male-female relationship."