ALICE MUNRO (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 – Personalities in News)

Context: Alice Munro, the Nobel Prize-winning author known for her mastery of the short story, has died at 92.

Alice Munro

• About: She was a Canadian short story writer.
• Early Life: Munro was born Alice Ann Laidlaw in Wingham, Ontario. She began writing as a teenager, with her first story, "The Dimensions of a Shadow", being published in 1950.
• Career: Alice Munro's first collection of stories, 'Dance of the Happy Shades' in 1968, clinched the prestigious Governor General's Award, marking a triumphant start to her literary career.
• Famous Stories: Lives of Girls and Women, Open Secrets, The Love of a Good Woman, Runaway, The View from Castle Rock, and Too Much Happiness.
• Honors: Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 and the International Booker Prize for her body of work in 2009.

o Munro continued to captivate readers with works like 'Lives of Girls and Women' in 1971, which not only garnered her a second Governor General's Literary Award but also propelled her onto the shortlist for the Booker Prize for Fiction.

• Global Impact: Munro’s profound storytelling transcended borders, with her works being translated into 13 languages, reflecting the universal appeal of her narratives.

Nobel Prize

• Established by: Alfred Nobel (inventor of Dynamite).
• Awarded to those who have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind, during the preceding year.
• First awards were handed out in 1901
• Field: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Economics, and Peace.