Alice Munro

Facts

Alice Munro

Photo: J. Munro

Alice Munro
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2013

Born: 10 July 1931, Wingham, Canada

Residence at the time of the award: Canada

Prize motivation: “master of the contemporary short story”

Language: English

Prize share: 1/1

Life

Alice Munro was born in Wingham, Ontario in Canada. Her father was a fox and mink farmer and her mother was a teacher. Munro began writing as a teenager. She also studied at the University of Western Ontario and worked as a library clerk. After marrying she moved with her husband to Dundarave, West Vancouver, and moved again in 1963 to Victoria, where the pair opened a bookstore. Since the late 1960s, Munro has dedicated herself to writing. Alice Munro is married with two daughters from her first marriage.

Work

Alice Munro has dedicated her literary career almost exclusively to the short story genre. She grew up in a small Canadian town; the kind of environment that often provides the backdrops for her stories. These often accommodate the entire epic complexity of the novel in just a few short pages. The underlying themes of her work are often relationship problems and moral conflicts. The relationship between memory and reality is another recurring theme she uses to create tension. With subtle means, she is able to demonstrate the impact that seemingly trivial events can have on a person's life.

To cite this section
MLA style: Alice Munro – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Tue. 19 Mar 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2013/munro/facts/>

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