Page 17 - Author Doris Lessing is among the Australian and international writers who have gathered in Canberra this weekend for the National Word Festival, which begins today at University House, ANU. In this article, IRENE WETTENHALL surveys Lessing's career to the completion of the fifth volume in her space-fiction series 'Canopus in Argos: Archives', which preceded the pseudonymously published The Diaries of Jane Somers'. In addition to her festival appearances, Lessing will speak for the Humanities Research Centre at the A. D. Hope Building, ANU, at 8pm on Wednesday and 12.30pm on Thursday. An interview with Doris Lessing will appear on the book page tomorrow. Lessing: a writer who defies labelling