Alice Munro

Introduction

Alice Munro

Alice Munro is the voice of small-town Canada. While many authors from the United States portray small-town life through the lens of nostalgia and Americana, Munro’s Canadian depictions are decidedly leaner. One of the many aspects of her writing that has earned critical praise is her ability to create intensely moving characters and stories using simple, straightforward language. Hers is a writing style that focuses not on plot and incident, but character, place, and time. Her stories offer glimpses into the lives of everyday people, and she eschews high-octane melodrama and sentimentality. Nevertheless, Munro’s work continues to captivate readers because of its rich, emotional detail and honest reflections of real life.

Essential Facts

Munro’s simple writing style and success in the short story format have earned her the reputation of Canada’s answer to Anton Chekhov.
Munro’s daughter, Sheila, is also a writer. She published a memoir documenting her childhood and relationship with Alice. The result was Lives of Mothers and Daughters: Growing Up With Alice Munro.
Now in her seventies, Munro claimed upon the 2006 publication of a collection of her stories, that no future compendiums would be released.
Munro has won the Governor General’s Award, an extremely prestigious Canadian literary honor, an astounding five times.
In 2007, Munro’s short story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” was adapted by actress/writer/director Sarah Polley into the critically acclaimed film Away From Her.