Ransom Center holds archive of Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing
The Harry Ransom Center holds the archive of Doris Lessing, the recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Lessing's work is characterized by shrewd social observation and critique. Born in 1919, Lessing is often considered a stateswoman of modern literature, political experience, and feminism. Her childhood experiences in Africa provide the background for a number of novellas and stories decrying colonialism, while the publication of The Golden Notebook (1962) assured Lessing an integral place in the history of feminist literature.
Acquired in 1999, the 45 archival boxes of Lessing's materials at the Ransom Center represent nearly all of her extant manuscripts and typescripts through 1999. Original material for Lessing's early books is assumed not to exist because Lessing kept none of her early manuscripts.