Alice Munro

Alice Munro (born Alice Ann Laidlaw on July 10, 1931) is a Canadian short story writer, widely considered one of the greatest short story writers in modern literature.

Biography

Alice Munro was born in the small rural town of Wingham, Ontario to a farming family. She began writing as a teenager and published her first story, "The Dimensions of a Shadow," while a student at the University of Western Ontario in 1950. She left university to marry James Munro and move to Vancouver in 1951. Her daughters Sheila and Jenny were born in 1953 and 1957 respectively. In 1963 she moved to Victoria and established Munro Books. In 1966, her third daughter, Sarah was born.

Related Topics:
Wingham, Ontario - University of Western Ontario - Vancouver - Victoria

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Her first collection of stories, Dance of the Happy Shades, was not published until 1968, but was highly acclaimed and won that year?s Governor General's Award, Canada?s highest literary prize. This success was followed by Lives of Girls and Women (1971), a collection of interlinked stories that was published as a novel. She and James Munro were divorced in 1972 when she returned to Ontario to become Writer-in-Residence at the University of Western Ontario. She married Gerald Fremlin in 1976 and they moved to a farm outside Clinton, Ontario, where they currently live.

Related Topics:
Governor General's Award - Clinton, Ontario

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In 1978, Munro's Who Do You Think You Are? was published (titled Beggar Maid in American editions); this book led Munro to win the Governor General?s Literary Award for a second time. From 1979 to 1982, she toured Australia, China and Scandinavia. In 1980 she held the position of Writer-in-Residence at both the University of British Columbia and the University of Queensland. Through the 1980s and 1990s Munro published a short-story collection about once every four years to increasing acclaim, winning both national and international awards (see Works and Awards and honours below).

Related Topics:
Australia - China - Scandinavia - University of British Columbia - University of Queensland - Works - Awards and honours

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In 2002, her daughter Sheila Munro published a childhood memoir, '.

Related Topics:
2002 - Sheila Munro

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