One of Canada’s best-loved authors has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The Nobel Prize is one of the most prestigious prizes an author can win. It comes with a $1-million cash award.
Alice Munro won the prize for her brilliant short stories.
Munro, 82, grew up in a small town in Ontario. Many of her stories are set in rural Ontario.
In making the announcement, Peter Englund, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, called Munro “master of the contemporary short story.”
Munro was surprised and delighted to find out she had won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
She told CBC News that, “I never thought I would win.”
Munro was born in 1931 in Wingham, Ont. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a fox farmer.
She studied journalism and English at the University of Western Ontario, but broke off her studies when she got married. In the 1950s, she and her husband moved to British Columbia and opened a bookstore (which still exists today).
Munro started writing stories in her teens. She has published many collections of short stories.
There have been 110 Nobel Prizes given out for literature, but Munro is only the 13th woman to receive the award.
She is the first Canadian-based writer to win the honour.
Munro currently lives in Clinton, Ont.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Thousands of people across Canada and the world would describe Alice Munro as their favourite author.
Who is one of your favourite authors? Why did you pick this person? Write a recommendation to a friend, convincing them to read this author’s work.
Reading Prompt: Variety of Texts
Alice Munro is described as a “master of the… short story.”
How would you define a short story? How is it different from a novel, a newspaper article or a poem?
Junior and Intermediate
Read a variety of texts from diverse cultures, including literary texts (OME, Reading: 1.1).
Grammar Feature: Verb tense
Two tenses are used in this article: past and present. Use a green marker to circle all of the verbs that are written in the past tense and use a red marker to circle all of the verbs written in the present tense.
