Last Thursday, celebrated Canadian author Alice Munro was declared winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. She is the first-ever female Canadian to win the award, and only the 13th woman to do so since the prize’s founding in 1901. Upon hearing the news, she said she was “delighted” and “terribly surprised.” At least, that was her reaction when the Swedish Academy finally got hold of her.
As the first Canadian woman to win the Nobel prize, Munro opens the door for others. DEREK SHAPTON/MEDIA PHOTO
Munro is hailed as the master of the contemporary short story, and has indeed almost exclusively stuck to the genre; all of her collections — apart from Lives of Girls and Women — are part of this genre. From the Governor General’s Award in 1968 to the Man Booker Prize in 2009, the list of accolades to Munro’s name continues to grow. In the past half-century, Munro has been a perennial presence on both the Canadian and international literary scenes.
Most of her stories are set in the small towns of Huron County, Ontario, where she was born. While her writing has a local focus, Munro’s complex characters, ambiguous plot, and often disconcerting depictions of human tensions and relationships transcend regional associations. She has captivated an international audience with her unapologetically revealing portrayal of everyday life.
Nicknamed the “Canadian Chekhov,” Munro scrutinizes the small-town life of seemingly ordinary characters, gradually peeling back layers of outward domestic bliss. She gives readers a glimpse into a world that is intensely private.
Though Munro has written extensively about domestic life, she was once told that her work was not serious enough to merit consideration. When first establishing herself as a writer, she faced much condescension, and was dismissed as a housewife whose material was domestic and boring. She was encroaching upon male-dominated territory — criticized by an overwhelmingly male audience — and wrote stories that showed her deep frustration with society’s restrictive gender norms. In her writing, the tension between male and female characters continues to be central to much of her portrayal of familial strife.
Now that a Canadian has reached the pinnacle of literary achievement, some questions are raised as to the overall quality of Canadian literature and how other Canadians may fare in the future. Revered for novels like Surfacing and The Year of the Flood, Victoria College alumna and long-time friend of Munro, Margaret Atwood touches on similar issues of gender dynamics and the volatile relationships people have with nature in her work. Ann-Marie MacDonald, author of the Governor General’s Award-winning, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) or Yann Martel — best known for his novel-gone-blockbuster Life of Pi, and his frostily received allegory, Beatrice and Virgil — are also possible contenders. It would appear to be a bright new day for Canadian writers, but, I suppose only time will tell. For now, congratulations Alice.
Sonia Liang is a second-year student studying English and political science.
