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Alice Ann Munro was a Canadian short story writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Her work tends to move forward and backward in time, with integrated short story cycles.
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culture · Canadian short story writer (1931–2024) · writer · screenwriter · novelist · short story writer · journalist · also Alice Munro, Alice Ann Munro, Alice Ann Laidlaw Munro, Alice Laidlaw, Alice Anne Munro, Munro
Born 10 July 1931 · Died 13 May 2024 · Q234819
82 published statements · 0 followers
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had been transformed into something curiously meaningful for me, and complete; it took in more than the girls dancing and the single street, it spread over the whole town, its rudimentary pattern of streets and its bare trees and muddy yards just free of the snow, over the dirt roads where the lights of cars appeared, jolting toward the town, under an immense pale wash of sky.
And one night, he was away, and I forced myself to sit down and read it all the way through, and I didn’t think it was too bad. And I felt I could acknowledge it and it would be OK.
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“had been transformed into something curiously meaningful for me, and complete; it took in more than the girls dancing and the single street, it spread over the whole town, its rudimentary pattern of streets and its bare trees and muddy yards just free of the snow, over the dirt roads where the lights of cars appeared, jolting toward the town, under an immense pale wash of sky.”
“And one night, he was away, and I forced myself to sit down and read it all the way through, and I didn’t think it was too bad. And I felt I could acknowledge it and it would be OK.”
“something happened right then. Something pulled apart.”
“I am intoxicated by this particular landscape, at home with the brick houses, the falling down barns, the trailer parks, burdensome old churches …”
“I would really hope that this would make people see the short story as an important art”
Los Angeles Times: Alice Munro’s darkest family drama haunts Rachel Aviv’s stunning new essay collection
The New Yorker: Alice Munro’s Family Secret
Psychology Today: Alice Munro and the Gender of Blame
Yahoo: Commentary: Alice Munro was no better than the miserable women she wrote about
KPBS: Alice Munro's daughter says her mother did nothing to stop abusive stepfather
USA Today: Alice Munro's daughter alleges she was abused by stepfather and her mom stayed with him
The Guardian: Alice Munro knew my stepfather sexually abused me as a child, says Nobel laureate’s daughter
The Guardian: ‘Her stories are life itself’: Yiyun Li on the genius of Alice Munro
The Washington Post: Alice Munro’s stories had a depth most novelists only dream of
The Guardian: ‘Reading her stories is like watching a virtuoso pianist perform’: Alice Munro remembered
The Guardian: Margaret Atwood reads Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro – audio
The Guardian: Five of the best Alice Munro short stories
The Guardian: Alice Munro obituary
San Diego Union-Tribune: Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
The Guardian: A life in quotes: Alice Munro
The Guardian: Alice Munro, Nobel winner and titan of the short story, dies aged 92
Forbes: Nobel Laureate Alice Munro Sold 1.2 Million Books In Last 20 Years—Here Are Her Bestsellers
Yahoo: Alice Munro, Nobel Prize-Winning Writer, Dies at 92
Died 2024-05-13.
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“Jednak dopiero pojawienie się na świecie mojego brata i niekończące się opowieści o tym, jaki to wspaniały prezent otrzymałam, sprawiły, że zaczęłam sobie powoli uświadamiać, jak bardzo wyobrażenia matki na mój temat różnią się od moich własnych.”
“Mogłabym ją udusić – nie zdołałam się jednak powstrzymać. I tych słów nie dało się już cofnąć, nie było powrotu do obrazu mojej osoby, jaki wcześniej istniał. Ojciec to usłyszał. Pojął, że uważam siebie za zdolną, by udusić małą Catherine we śnie, całkiem bez powodu.”
“Po czterdziestce ujawniły się u mamy początki choroby Parkinsona. Początkowo nie wyglądało to najgorzej. Matce z rzadka tylko uciekały oczy, a z powodu nadmiaru śliny, wypływającej czasami w sposób niekontrolowany, meszek wokół ust stawał się bardziej widoczny.”
“O niektórych postawach i decyzjach mówi się, że są niewybaczalne albo też, że my sami nie potrafimy ich sobie wybaczyć. Ale i tak postępujemy w ten sposób… bezustannie.”
“Jako chłopiec ojciec wolał być traperem niż pomagać na farmie albo chodzić do szkoły średniej – chciał się również wzbogacić. Uchwycił się tej myśli i sądził, że zdoła wytrwać przy swoim planie na całe życie. Wszystko, co zarobił, inwestował w fermę lisów, do czego dokładała się również matka ze swojej pensji nauczycielskiej.”
“Do pewnego stopnia byłam w stanie wyobrazić sobie matkę w sportowym ubraniu golfistki, przewiązującą ładne puszyste włosy chustką, ale już wbijanie piłki do dołka było raczej poza jej zasięgiem. Frywolność tej zagrywki zupełnie do niej nie pasowała.”
“Przez długi czas pamiętałam brzmienie ich głosów. Wiele o nich rozmyślałam. (...) Bez wątpienia nigdy wcześniej nie słyszałam, żeby mężczyzna zwracał się do kobiety w ten sposób, uważał ją za tak wspaniałą i niezwykłą istotę, że wszelkie przejawy nieuprzejmości względem niej traktował nieomal jak naruszenie prawa, jak grzech.”
“Moje włosy – odpowiednio zwilżone i uformowane w długie pukle – przypominały tłuste kiełbaski. Pozbywałam się tych loków codziennie w drodze do szkoły. Mówiłam mamie, że inni nie noszą takich fryzur, a ona odpowiadała, że nie mają tyle szczęścia.”
“Kobieta robiła naprawdę niesamowite wrażenie. Nigdy bym nie pomyślała, że będąc starym, można prezentować się tak wytwornie, być mocnej budowy, ale mieć także mnóstwo wdzięku, prowokować, a zarazem wyglądać godnie i dostojnie. Ktoś mógłby ją nazwać bezwstydnicą i zdaje się, że moja matka później tak właśnie się o niej wyraziła – w charakterystyczny dla siebie, wyniosły sposób.”
“Kiedy miałam pięć lat, moim rodzicom urodził się chłopiec, a mama powiedziała, że zawsze marzyłam o braciszku. Skąd przyszła jej do głowy taka myśl, nie mam pojęcia. Długo się nad tym rozwodziła, wysuwając same zmyślone argumenty, które ciężko było mi jednak odeprzeć.”
The Atlantic: Something Something Alice Munro
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature — master of the contemporary short story.
Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (2013).
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Munro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, cited as a "master of the contemporary short story"
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“so this is how it should be done.”
“I think any surroundings can be interesting.”
“s behalf when her health prevented her from appearing personally. Almost 20 of Munro”
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Munro wrote the introduction, and Gibson often made public appearances on Munro's behalf when her health prevented her from appearing personally
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Awarded Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (2010).
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The Journal of the Short Story in English (JSSE)/Les cahiers de la nouvelle dedicated a special issue to Munro, and in 2012, an issue of the journal Narrative focused on a single story by Munro, "Passion" (2004), with an
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Awarded International Booker Prize (2009).
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Munro revealed that she had been treated for cancer and for a heart condition requiring coronary artery bypass surgery
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Awarded O. Henry Award (2008).
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“What Do You Want To Know For”
Awarded O. Henry Award (2006).
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Ann Close and Lisa Dickler Awano reported that Munro had not wanted to reread the galleys of Runaway (2004): "No, because I'll rewrite the stories
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Fremlin pleaded guilty to sexual assault and received a suspended sentence and two years' probation
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Awarded Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for Runaway (2004).
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Awarded Giller Prize for Runaway (2004).
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Awarded Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (2002).
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Sheila Munro published a childhood memoir, Lives of Mothers and Daughters: Growing Up with Alice Munro
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Skinner cut off contact with Alice Munro after Alice objected to Skinner not wanting Fremlin near her own children
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Awarded Rea Award for the Short Story (2001).
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Awarded Giller Prize for The Love of a Good Woman (1998).
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Awarded National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for The Love of a Good Woman (1998).
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Awarded PEN/Malamud Award (1997).
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Awarded WH Smith Literary Award (1995).
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Awarded Order of Ontario (1994).
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Won Lorne Pierce Medal (1993).
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Awarded Molson Prize (1990).
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Awarded Governor General's Award for English-language fiction for The Progress of Love (1986).
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Awarded Marian Engel Award (1986).
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To launch the Douglas Gibson Books imprint at McClelland & Stewart, Munro returned the advance Macmillan had paid her for The Progress of Love so that she could follow Gibson to the new company
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Under its international title, The Beggar Maid
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Held the position of writer in residence at both the University of British Columbia and the University of Queensland
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Awarded Governor General's Award for English-language fiction for Who Do You Think You Are? (1978).
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Munro's collection of interlinked stories Who Do You Think You Are
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When she was nine years old and ending when she was a teenager
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Married Gerald Fremlin, a retired cartographer and geographer she had first met during her university days
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Received an honorary LLD from the institution
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Awarded Governor General's Award for English-language fiction for Dance of the Happy Shades And Other Stories (1968).
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The Munros moved to Victoria, where they opened Munro's Books, a popular bookstore that remains in business
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After she had published a few stories in small magazines, the Vancouver Sun ran a brief article on her, titled "Housewife Finds Time to Write Short Stories", and called her the "least praised good writer"
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1955, and 1957, respectively; Catherine died the day of her birth due to a kidney dysfunction
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Munro left the university, where she had been majoring in English since 1949, to marry fellow student James Munro
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While studying English and journalism at the University of Western Ontario on a two-year scholarship
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Born 1931-07-10.
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“Moja matka przed urodzeniem mnie dwukrotnie poroniła. Dlatego kiedy już przyszłam na świat w 1931 roku, musiała odczuwać pewną satysfakcję.”
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