Totally awesome, but what's this all about?

Pretty awesome, and it's also notable because she's pretty much a pure sci-fi author.

Well, despite her having been a guest of honor at two of the biggest F/SF conventions ever, she has recently said that "sf buffs--with the exception of Brian Aldiss--don't regard me as an sf writer."

I have no idea why she would say that. I'd say that actually, it's the mainstream literary world that doesn't recognize her as an SF writer.

And she also "couldn't care less."

And she also "couldn't care less."

rae & Brianne, I second (third?) your questions! When I heard the news on the BBC this morning, I actually let out a "yippee!" at work . . . but then they mentioned in the same breath how she is so irritated by feminists' analysis of the Golden Notebook . . . I was like, "huh?" I can't say love Lessing's work, but I did read the Golden Notebook for a literature class in college and it was really interesting . . . in a feminist way! Why is she so offended by that, I wonder?

I am absolutely thrilled by this. I'm a professional in the SF genre, and she's right, most fans don't realize she's an SF writer. It's not a coincidence that so many of the best and most recognized female SF writers from the "classic" age of SF wrote under male or gender-neuter pen names, from James Tiptree Jr to Andre Norton to CJ Cherryh. "Doris Lessing," who wrote subtle, literary novels without spaceships on the covers, was missed by many fans. Which is sad. But the Nobel win will get her books into the hands of so many new people. This is just wonderful, both for Doris Lessing and for the science fiction community.

Yes. Lessing has made anti-feminist remarks. She tends to be impatient with underdog ideologies.
It may be that Lessing misunderstands contemporary feminism. When she was coming along she had the field of wonmen's novel writing to herself, because even women of genius were by and large not competing with men. At best, critics then regarded her as a "primitive," like Dreiser. Her work was considered minor. In those days "important" writing was all about manly war heroes, psychodramas, or the sensitive insights of gay men. Now, women are everywhere, and there is more struggle.
Also, Lessing has a son. Some wag once said, "Any woman with a son is a gender traitor." So I tend to forgive her for her remarks, especially considering her age and the fact that her son is apparently not well now.
As to the S.F.: the spin is that she is just a genre writer, that she was only chosen for the Nobel Prize since she's a woman and from Rhodesia, yadayada, to which I say, "Nonsense." She is for me the most important writer of her generation, the one with the strongest personal meaning to me; she kept me going during some bad times. I actually have not read much of her SF.
I'm glad she mentions Brian Aldiss, an SF writer and one of my favorites. Uneven, but when he's good, he's the best.

I must say (late night and a little drunk) that Briefing for a Descent into Hell is one of the most brilliant things I have ever read.

This is awesome news -- whether Lessing identifies as a feminist or not, her work has done great things for feminist literature and the female hero. It sickens me to no end that literary critic Harold Bloom said publicly today that her receiving the Nobel is "pure political correctness." I think it's shameful they've waited this long to give it to her -- the woman is 88 years old and one of the greatest writers still living.

Don't sweat Harold Bloom. He's such a buffoon--nobody should take him seriously. He's just feeling ashamed because he once wrote a really lousy science fiction novel.