Alice Munro wins Nobel Prize for Literature

(Update)

Alice Munro is the first Canadian-based author to be awarded the nobel prize for literature. Praise and cheers for Munro have come from across Canada and the world. Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls her a giant in literature, and she’s being compared to Russian author Anton Chekhov. But perhaps the most support for Munro is coming from her hometown.

Melissa Raftis has more.

Munro is the 110th Nobel laureate in literature and only the 13th woman to receive the distinction. But for those who live in Clinton, Ontario where she has had a home for years, she is still just a regular member of the community.

Cheers erupted from the crowd as the Swedish academy announced Alice Munro as the 2013 Nobel Laureate calling the 82-year old a “master of the contemporary short story.”

Peter Englund is with the Swedish Academy: “She has cultivated it and taken it almost into perfection. I would like to say she is often mentioned the same time as Chekhov.”

Munro called the win “quite wonderful”. “I hope it would happen not just for me but for the short story in general..because it’s often sort of brushed off..something people do before they write their first novel. And I would like it to come to the fore without any strings attached.”

Local student rachel bundy not only study’s munro stories in school… but is also a close family friend…she describes an enormous sense of pride upon hearing of munro’s win… but says the author was unsure she’d be awarded the honour: “My dad talked to her (Wednesday) night and she was kind of nervous, kind of I don’t think I will win. I haven’t talked to her today but I think she’s kind of excited. Pretty overwhelmed.”

Munro is loved by readers around the world for her striking portraits of life in small-town Ontario. And news of her Nobel win spread quickly throughout Clinton, a small community of just 3,200 near Goderich which Munro has called home for decades.

Huron County librarian Meigan Wark says Munro frequents the Clinton branch where some of her books are now proudly displayed in celebration of her Nobel prize: “She’s a familiar face in the community. You’ll see her at the post office or walking down the street. She’s quite well known for going for her walks. She’s also written short stories in relation to other areas but really what stands out is her sensitivity to Huron County and the rural landscape.”

Central Huron Mayor James Ginn says Munro has put Clinton on the map: “Recognized citizens are recognized provincially or nationally, when you start talking Nobel that’s worldwide, that’s the pinnacle.”

And at least in this community, Munro will not only be celebrated for who she is on paper, but also for who she is in person.

Ginn: “It’s an extraordinary recognition for an extraordinary person.”

The local library says they have received calls from all over the world today for interviews about Munro including Sweden and New York City. And I was in another local store selling signed copies of her most recent work and that store said it expected to sell out of those copies by the end of the day.