One of Canada's literary greats has been honoured today. Author Alice Munro has won the Nobel Prize for literature. At 82, she's not only the first Canuck to secure the prestigious title, but also one of the few women in the award's history to do so.
According to an article in the Globe and Mail, Munro, named the 110th Nobel laureate in literature, reacted with typical humility:
“I’m amazed and very grateful,” said Ontario-born Munro. “...I’m happy, too, that this will bring more attention to Canadian writing.”
The news must come as a real kick in the pants to novelist David Gilmour, who was widely criticized in the media recently for dismissing women writers in his teaching syllabus at U of T in favour of the "best writers"—e.g. "serious heterosexual guys."
The Victoria, B.C. resident has earned the accolade of 'Canadian Chekov' for her stunning short stories, which have picked up numerous awards from the Man Booker, two Giller Prizes, three Governor General’s Literary Awards, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the inaugural Marian Engel Award and the American National Book Critics Circle Award.
But the Nobel is clearly the icing on her career, with a prize of value of around $1.3 million. Not too shabby for a woman who mostly writes about ordinary women.
Like all great artists, Munro's deceptively simple craft belies the complexity. You never see the strings. Her short stories pack more of an emotional punch than most novels.
“This is not a golfer on a practice tee," said American novelist Jonathan Franzen. "This is a gymnast in a plain black leotard, alone on a bare floor, outperforming all the novelists with their flashy costumes and whips and elephants and tigers.”
Of her gift Munro simply says she aims to tell a story "the old-fashioned way ... I want the reader to feel something is astonishing — not the ‘what happens’ but the way everything happens. These long short story fictions do that best, for me.”
Congrats Alice from a longtime admirer... Are you a fan?
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