Editing Doris Lessing (section)

===Literary career===
At the age of fifteen, Lessing began to sell her stories to magazines.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.dorislessing.org/biography.html|title = Biography (From the pamphlet: ''A Reader's Guide to The Golden Notebook & Under My Skin'', HarperPerennial, 1995)|last = Lessing|first = Doris}}</ref> Her first novel, ''[[The Grass Is Singing]]'', was published in 1950.<ref name="dobref" /> The work that gained her international attention, ''[[The Golden Notebook]]'', was published in 1962.<ref name="bbcref1"/> By the time of her death, she had published more than 50 novels, some under a pseudonym.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Doris Lessing dies aged 94|date = 17 November 2013|url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/17/doris-lessing-dies-94|last = Kennedy|first = Maev|work = The Guardian}}</ref>
[[File:DorisLessing1984.jpg|left|thumb|Lessing in 1984]]
In 1982 Lessing wrote two novels under the literary pseudonym Jane Somers to show the difficulty new authors face in trying to get their work printed. The novels were rejected by Lessing's UK publisher but later accepted by another English publisher, [[Michael Joseph (publisher)|Michael Joseph]], and in the US by [[Alfred A. Knopf]]. ''The Diary of a Good Neighbour''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dorislessing.org/thea.html |title=The Diary of a Good Neighbour by Doris Lessing|publisher=Doris Lessing|access-date=13 August 2012}}</ref> was published in Britain and the US in 1983 and ''If the Old Could'' in both countries in 1984,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dorislessing.org/ifthe.html|title=If the Old Could by Doris Lessing|website=www.dorislessing.org}}</ref> both as written by Jane Somers. In 1984 both novels were republished in both countries ([[Viking Books]] publishing in the US), this time under one cover, with the title ''The Diaries of Jane Somers: The Diary of a Good Neighbour and If the Old Could'', listing Doris Lessing as author.<ref>Hanft, Adam. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-hanft/when-doris-lessing-became_b_68118.html "When Doris Lessing Became Jane Somers and Tricked the Publishing World (And Possibly Herself In the Process)"]. ''The Huffington Post'', 10 November 2007. Updated 25 May 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2017.</ref>

Lessing declined a [[Dame (title)|damehood]] (DBE) in 1992 as an honour linked to a non-existent Empire; she had previously declined an OBE in 1977.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/22/doris-lessing-letters|last=Flood|first=Alison|title=Doris Lessing donates revelatory letters to university|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=22 October 2008|access-date=15 October 2012}}</ref> Later she accepted appointment as a [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] at the end of 1999 for "conspicuous national service".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/profilepages/lessingd2.shtml|title=Doris Lessing interview|access-date=11 October 2007|format=Audio|publisher= BBC Radio|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071014024848/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/profilepages/lessingd2.shtml|archive-date= 14 October 2007}}</ref> She was also made a Companion of Literature by the [[Royal Society of Literature]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rslit.org/companions.htm|title=Companions of Literature list|access-date=11 October 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070707111745/http://www.rslit.org/companions.htm|archive-date = 7 July 2007}}</ref>

In 2007 Lessing was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]].<ref name="winsprise">Rich, Motoko and Lyall, Sarah. [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/world/11cnd-nobel.html?ex=1349841600&en=fe6db48996e06f03&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink "Doris Lessing Wins Nobel Prize in Literature"]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved 11 October 2007.</ref> She received the prize at the age of 88 years 52 days, making her the oldest winner of the literature prize at the time of the award and the third-oldest Nobel laureate in any category (after [[Leonid Hurwicz]] and [[Raymond Davis Jr.]]).<ref>Hurwicz won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science in 2007 aged 90. Davis received the 2002 Physics Prize at 88 years 57 days. Their birth dates are shown in their biographies at the [http://www.nobelprize.org Nobel Prize website], which states that the awards are given annually on 10 December.</ref><ref>Pierre-Henry Deshayes. [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22571058-663,00.html "Doris Lessing wins Nobel Literature Prize"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013083314/http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22571058-663,00.html |date=13 October 2007 }}. ''Herald Sun''. Retrieved 16 October 2007.</ref> She was also only the eleventh woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature by the [[Swedish Academy]] in its 106-year history.<ref>Reynolds, Nigel. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071012091706/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/11/nlessing111.xml "Doris Lessing wins Nobel prize for literature"]. ''The Telegraph''. Retrieved 15 October 2007.</ref> In 2017, just 10 years later, her Nobel medal was put up for auction.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=6118889 |title=Valuable Books and Manuscripts |publisher=Christie's |date=13 December 2017 |access-date=7 December 2017}}</ref><ref name=flood2017>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/07/doris-lessing-nobel-prize-literature-medal-goes-up-for-auction |title=Doris Lessing's Nobel medal goes up for auction |work=The Guardian |author=Alison Flood |date=7 December 2017 |access-date=7 December 2017}}</ref> Previously only one Nobel medal for literature had been sold at auction, for [[André Gide]] in 2016.<ref name=flood2017/>