Britain's Lessing wins 2007 Nobel for literature

STOCKHOLM, Oct 11 (Reuters) British novelist Doris Lessing won the 2007 Nobel Prize for literature, the Swedish Academy said today.

The academy, which decides on the prestigious 10 million Swedish (1.54 million dollars) award, called the 87-year-old Lessing an ''epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny''.

This was the fourth of this year's crop of Nobels, handed out annually for achievements in science, literature, economics and peace.

The prizes bearing the name of dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the 1895 will of the Swedish businessman.

REUTERS AE HT1647