1st LD: British Female Writer Doris Lessing Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Oct 19, 09:29 AM

Current Headlines: 1st LD: British female writer Doris Lessing wins Nobel Prize in literature

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- British female writer Doris Lessing won the 2007 Nobel Prize in literature, the Swedish Academy announced Thursday.

The Academy cited Lessing as "that epicist of the female experience who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny."

This was the fourth of the prestigious Nobel Prizes handed out this year, with awards in chemistry, physics and medicine made in the past three days.

The Nobel Prizes have been awarded annually since 1901 to thosewho " conferred the greatest benefit on mankind during the preceding year."

The annual Nobel Prizes are usually announced in October and are handed out on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist and the inventor of dynamite.

Each prize consists of a medal, a personal diploma and a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor (1.53 million U.S. dollars).

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