During the 20th C. there was a number of writers who approach the cultural diversity of the Commonwealth. The novels of Edward Morgan Forster, Doris Lessing and Nadine Gordimer are clear examples of that. They not only show the different cultural varieties , but also reflect on the terrible consequences of British imperialism.

DORIS LESSING

Doris Lessing was born in Persia (present-day Iran), on October 22, 1919. After growing up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), she moved to England and started a writing career. She brought a manuscript with her, which became her first published novel: The Grass Is Singing (1950). The book examined the relationship between a white farmer's wife in Rhodesia and her black house servant.

She has written more than 55 works including fiction, nonfiction, poetry and opera. She wrote across a range of genres and detailed the conflicts inherent to a changing society. Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007. She was only the 11th woman to become a Nobel laureate in literature and the oldest recipient, at the age of 88. Some of her popular novels include The Golden Notebook, The Good Terrorist, Alfred and Emily, among others.

Watch the video and answer the questions below:

1. Why can't she stop writing? What does she think about that?
2. How was she educated?
3. Mention some important events she lived. 
4. What does she think about the effect writers have on people?

THE GRASS IS SINGING (1950)

Lessing arrived in London in the spring of 1949 with the manuscript of a novel about her life in Africa, exploring the power and fear at the heart of the colonial experience. When Mary Turner's husband becomes sick she takes over the running of their failing Rhodesian farm. Gradually she begins to develop a relationship with one of their black servants, Moses – a relationship the reader knows will end in tragedy from the first page.