Just shy of her 89th birthday, English writer Doris Lessing has attracted many labels in the past six decades: feminist, Communist, activist, social commentator and — as of last year — Nobel laureate.

Ms. Lessing was an uninhibited and outspoken novelist who produced dozens of novels, short stories, essays and poems, embarking on dizzying and at times stultifying literary experiments. By Helen T.

"One has to remind [publishers] that what authors need is quiet—all writers need to be quiet; that we need in fact to be rather bored, we need to be unstimulated." -- Doris Lessing In this episode of ...

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today. Just shy of her 89th birthday, ...