Alice Munro

Alice Munro, 1931–, Canadian writer. Much acclaimed as one of the finest contemporary short-story writers, Munro is known for quiet, insightfully realistic, and irony-tinged works that deal with daily life and are written in elegantly sharp yet unobtrusive prose. Her tales are mainly about the lives of girls and women, are often set in rural Ontario, and frequently concern the conflicts ...

Alice Munro, 1931–, Canadian writer. Much acclaimed as one of the finest contemporary short-story writers, Munro is known for quiet, insightfully realistic, and irony-tinged works that deal with daily life and are written in elegantly sharp yet unobtrusive prose. Her tales are mainly about the lives of girls and women, are often set in rural Ontario, and frequently concern the conflicts between independence and domesticity, creativity and obligation. Other recurring themes in her fiction include the interrelatedness of poverty and shame, the subtleties of class distinctions, the intricacies of women's sexuality, and the complex problems of the female artist. Collections of her many stories include Dance of the Happy Shades (1968), Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You (1974), The Beggar Maid (1979), The Progress of Love (1986), Friend of My Youth (1990), The Love of a Good Woman (1998), Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (2001), Runaway (2004), Carried Away (2006), and Too Much Happiness (2009). The stories in The View from Castle Rock (2006) mingle fiction, history, and memoir, tracing Munro's family from 17th-century Scotland to modern Canada. Her collection Dear Life (2012) contains a semiautobiographical section, the only writing Munro has said at least partially concerns her own life. She also has written one novel, Lives of Girls and Women (1971). Munro was awarded the 2009 Man Booker International Prize.

See S. Munro (her daughter), Lives of Mothers and Daughters: Growing Up with Alice Munro (2001); biographies by E. D. Blodgett (1988) and R. Thacker (2011); studies by L. K. MacKendrick, ed. (1983), H. Dahlie (1984), W. R. Martin (1987), I. de P. Carrington (1989), J. Carscallen (1993), A. Heble (1994), C. A. Howells (1998), R. Thacker, ed. (1999), J. McCaig (2002), H. Bloom (2009), I. Duncan (2011), and C. E. May (2012).