Alice Munro began writing stories at the age of 12, tales of childhood adventure that drew from her life just outside Wingham in rural Ontario, a place she once described as "a community of outcasts" that was neither town nor country, populated by bootleggers, hanger-ons and prostitutes. This unconventional setting gave her a perspective that whetted her imagination, providing the grist for the tales she wrote as a youth as well as the stories she would later write as a woman. As Munro grew into her teens, her writing gave her a confidence that she did not find in the more "traditional" outlets allowed girls of that period (1940’s).
Eventually, she won a two-year scholarship to the University of Western Ontario but later dropped out after the two years because she simply had no more money. She made good use of her talent while in school, though, publishing several short stories in the student literary magazine. Even after she later married and had three children, she continued writing, although she found no stimulus in the ordinary life of suburban Vancouver and felt that her talent was stymied because of this.
According to Munro, the turning point in her writing came in 1959 when she wrote "The Peace of Utrecht", a story dealing with her mother’s illness (Parkinson Disease) when Munro was 12. Exposing her personal pain in this chronicle led to a deeper, reflective perspective in her subsequent writing, much of it biographical, taking a deeper look from her life's experiences and not just her imagination.
Her first collection, Dances of the Happy Shades, was published in 1968 when Munro was 37. In 1998, a Washington Post reviewer wrote, "she sketches the contours of a life or a complex relationship, but it's a detailed portrait—with subtle shading and deep perspective—rather than a mere suggestion."
Now in her 70’s, Munro is still writing, her latest collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories having come out in November, 2001. In a 2001 interview with Atlantic Unbound, Munro touched on how age has changed her perspective: "When I was thirty, if I'd tried to write about someone dying of cancer, I would have been overwhelmed by the tragedy of it. Just growing older has an effect. It's the simple experience of where I am in life."
She remains one of the most lauded short story writers of our times.
For those of you who have never read Munro (and for those of you who have but want to revisit her works), here are some excerpts from her collections.
excerpt from Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
excerpt from The Love of a Good Woman
excerpt from Open Secrets: Stories
Also check out an interview with Alice Munro at Vintage Books Reading Group Center
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