NOBEL PRIZE
Alice Munro takes home $1.3M prize
Canadian author Alice Munro was the recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Hailing her as a master of the short story, the Royal Swedish Academy has named Alice Munro as the winner of the world’s biggest literary prize, marking what observers called a monumental day for both the author and Canadian writing.
Munro on Thursday became just the second Canadian-born author to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, and only the 13th woman to do so since it was founded in 1901. The prize is worth approximately $1.3-million Cdn.
“I knew I was in the running, yes, but I never thought I would win,” the reclusive 82-year-old Munro said when reached in Victoria. She added that she was delighted and “just terribly surprised.”
In a statement supplied by her publisher, she went on to say she hoped the accolade would help turn on a spotlight on Canadian writers.
“I am dazed by all the attention and affection that has been coming my way this morning,” she said.
“When I began writing there was a very small community of Canadian writers and little attention was paid by the world. Now Canadian writers are read, admired and respected around the globe. I’m so thrilled to be chosen as this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature recipient. I hope it fosters further interest in all Canadian writers. I also hope that this brings further recognition to the short story form.”
Munro had been considered a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize in literature, with British-based betting company Ladbrokes positioning her as the second-most-likely recipient this year behind Japanese master Haruki Murakami.
“We’ve been teased with this prospect for years now, and for it finally to happen, and for Alice not to be kept up all night waiting for no news, is such a wonderful thing,” said Deborah Treisman, her editor at The New Yorker for the past 12 years.
Technically, she’s not the first Canadian to win the prize.
That would be Saul Bellow, who was born in Lachine, Que., but moved to Chicago as a child. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1976, but is largely considered a U.S. writer.
In the minutes after the announcement, Twitter and Facebook exploded with well wishes from other Canadian authors, including Margaret Atwood, another longrumoured contender for the prize.
“This is no different than Canadians winning at hockey at the Olympics,” said Geoffrey Taylor, artistic director of the International Festival of Authors.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the prize “is the culmination of a lifetime of brilliant writing.”
“Ms. Munro is a giant in Canadian literature and this Nobel Prize further solidifies Canada’s place among the ranks of countries with the best writers in the world,” Harper said.
Over the course of a career that’s stretched over 45 years — Munro didn’t publish her first collection until she was 37 years old.
Her first book, Dance of the Happy Shades, won the Governor General’s Literary Award in 1968.
She won the same prize in 1978 for Who Do You Think You Are? (published elsewhere as The Beggar Maid) and in 1986 for The Progress of Love. She’s twice won the Giller Prize, Canada’s most prestigious literary award: The Love of A Good Woman won in 1998, while Runaway took home the prize in 2004. Most recently Munro, whose work has been compared to that of Anton Chekhov, was awarded the Man Booker International Prize.