Lessing

Doris Lessing Grade Level:  9-12 Providing a thorough look at Doris Lessing's life and work, this site is from the British Arts Council. Born in Persia and growing up in Southern Africa, Lessing had a very interesting and adventuresome childhood. Her prolific writing career has produced a variety of works in various genres autobiography, essays, fiction, libretto, non-fiction, science fiction, and short stories. At the conclusion of the article, lists of her writings and prizes and awards are presented. Also included is an author statement that emphasizes the importance of a stressful childhood to the process of writing. Topic: Women authors, English URL: http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth60 Doris Lessing Grade Level:  9-12 The Doris Lessing Retrospective web site catalogs the work of an author who was determined not to settle for the social conventions of her time. She did not want to end up like the women of her mother's generation whose lives, she said, "ceased to exist" after they had children. Lessing's work is largely autobiographical and paints a picture of oppression and struggle in 1940s South Africa. In fact, she was banished from the country for many years because of those books. There is also biographical information about Lessing, as well as updates on her new latest novels. Topic: Women authors, English URL: http://lessing.redmood.com/ The Salon Interview: Doris Lessing Grade Level:  9-12 Introducing this intriguing article is the annotation: " Doris Lessing talks about the illusions of communism, political correctness and why the sexual revolution backfired." The prolific, award-winning author comments upon these topics and many others. A meeting with Henry Kissinger is also featured. And, Lessing comments on Princess Diana's death and the public's reaction to the happening. Read this fascinating interview for insights into one of the twentieth century's most acclaimed authors. Topic: Women novelists, English URL: http://www.salon.com/books/feature/1997/11/cov_si_11lessing.html Doris Lessing (1919-) Grade Level:  9-12 Doris Lessing has noted, "It is my belief that we value narrative because the pattern is in our brain. Our brains are patterned for storytelling, for the consecutive." This guide to Lessing includes links to ten related Guardian and Observer features and reviews, an image, and a number of facts about the writer arranged under such headings as "Critical verdict" ("Prolific, intellectual and varied, Lessing is best known for The Golden Notebook, a key moment in both feminist writing and post-modern fragmentary narrative"), "Now read on," and "Recommended biography." Topic: Women novelists URL: http://books.guardian.co.uk/authors/author/0,,86700,00.html Doris Lessing: A Biography Grade Level:  9-12 Many reviews of Carole Klein's biography of Doris Lessing are presented at this site. Viewers may read reviews from the publisher, the critics, and other readers. Information about Doris Lessing's fascinating life may be gleaned from the reviews. Interestingly, the reviews are mixed. Lessing was prompted to write her own two volume autobiography as this and other biographies were being written. The reader will have to decide whether or not to read Klein's biographical account. Topic: Women authors, English URL: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&isbn=0786708069 The Progressive Interview: Doris Lessing Grade Level:  9-12 This fascinating interview of Doris Lessing was conducted in 1999 by Jonah Raskin, the chairman of the Communication Studies Department at Sonoma State University. Raskin comments. "Thirty years ago, when we conducted our first interview, we talked about Vietnam, revolution, the unconscious. This time it was privacy, death, the end of the twentieth century." Lessings' thoughts on many subjects are commented upon in this piece: her writing, travels, politics, recreations, Sufism, and her health. What a fascinating woman! The article contains many hotlinks to various Lessing works. Topic: Women authors, English URL: http://www.dorislessing.org/theprogressive.html Audio Interviews with Doris Lessing Grade Level:  9-12 Don Swaim produced "Book Beat," a daily broadcast that focused on authors and books. The show, which was nationally syndicated by the CBS Radio Stations News Service, featured some of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, from Ray Bradbury to John Updike, Toni Morrison to Tom Clancy. Swaim's thirty- to forty-five-minute interviews were edited for the two-minute segment. Wired for Books now offers the complete, uncut, behind-the-scenes interviews, including the full audio of Swaim's 1988 and 1992 interviews with Doris Lessing, who discusses her beginnings as a writer and the challenges and difficulties of her profession. Topic: Women novelists, English URL: http://www.wiredforbooks.org/dorislessing/ Featured Author: Doris Lessing Grade Level:  9-12 From this New York Times site, the reader can gather a rich variety of material. Links exist to articles about and by Lessing, interviews with Lessing, reviews of Lessing's works, a review of a biography on Lessing, and audio interviews and lectures. One interesting article tells of Lessing's experiment in writing and submitting two books under a pen name, Jane Somers. [Lessing] "said she had staged the ruse to point up the difficulties of unknown writers, to offer them encouragement and to fool reviewers who had complained that she no longer wrote in the realistic style she had once used." Topic: Women authors, English URL: http://partners.nytimes.com/books/00/10/15/specials/lessing.html A Visit With Doris Lessing by Joyce Carol Oates Grade Level:  9-12 This site presents an article that was originally published in the Southern Review in 1974. After spending a two-hour visit with Lessing, Joyce Carol Oates wrote this article, which is part expository and part interview. The article manages to capture and convey the personas of both authors. A view of the times, the differences between the reading public in America and England, the importance of Lessings' book The Golden Notebook, and other influential English writers are some of the topics discussed. Topic: Women authors, English URL: http://www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/southerr/lessing.html I Have Nothing in Common with Feminists. They Never Seem to Think that One Might Enjoy Men. Grade Level: 9-12 This article based on a 2001 interview with Doris Lessing covers many topics, but the one topic that dominates is Lessing's refutation of feminism. Lessing comments, "I'm not any kind of traitor to the cause. I've always thought the same way. It's just that, like all obsessively political people, feminists tend to fasten on to someone who they think is one of them. I am always being described as having views that I've never had in my life." Other topics discussed in the article include Lessing's views of the 60's, her early life, her most famous work, The Golden Notebook, and her more recent publications and honors. Topic: Women authors, English URL: http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,6000,548836,00.html