Munro's postage stamp

She was the 13th woman writer to win the Nobel Prize. She received the award at the age of 82. So far, the number of women writers who have received the Nobel Prize has reached 17, including Anne Arnoux, who was awarded in 2022.

Alice Munro was awarded the prize for being able to sublimate prose and evict landscape while centering it on poetry.

Munro was born on July 10, 1931 in Wingham, Ontario. Munro's father was a farmer and his mother a school teacher. She started writing as a teenager. His first story 'The Dimensions of a Shadow' was published in 1950. At the time, she was studying English and journalism at the University of Western Ontario. During that time, she worked as a waitress in a restaurant, in a cigar shop, and in a library to earn money. While studying at the university, she even sold blood for money.

She got married in 1951 to James Munro, a classmate who became friends during her studies. They moved to West Vancouver after the wedding because of James' job. Moved to Victoria in 1963 and started Munrose Books, a bookstore there, which is still in operation.

Munro's first collection of stories 'Dance of the Happy Shades' was published in 1968. In the first book, Munro received Canada's highest prestigious award, the Governor General's Award. After receiving that award, he was under a lot of pressure to write a novel. But her publisher Douglas Gibson said, 'Alice, they're wrong. You are a great storyteller. Even if you write only stories for the rest of your life, I am ready to continue publishing.' Indeed, she wrote only stories throughout her life.

From 1979 to 1982, Munro toured extensively in Australia, China and Scandinavia, reciting her works. She received the 'Man Booker International Prize' in 2009 for 'Too Much Happiness'. Announcing the award, the jury explained the reason for the award, "Reading Alice Munro means learning a subject that you have never thought of before."

Alice Munro did not show anyone what she was writing. That was his nature. In an interview with Jenny McCulloch and Mona Simson published in the Paris Review in 1994, she openly said, 'No, I don't show anyone what I'm writing.' She started writing every morning at 8 and took a break at 11. She used to write in the afternoon too, taking a little break. The whole week passed like this.

There have also been films based on Alice's story. Pedro Almadóvar made 'Julieta' in 2016 based on the story of his collection of stories 'Run Away'. 'Martha, Ruth and Eddie' (1988), 'Edge of Madness' (2002), 'Away from Her' (2006), 'Hateship-Loveship' (2013) are some of the films based on his stories. In this regard, after winning the Nobel Prize, she was asked, 'What can be interesting about the story of Canadian life?' So I write on the computer, But I am a first- or second-grader who writes by hand, I just download it to the computer. It may take up to 2 months to complete.'

'The Weir Came Over the Mountain' is considered to be Munro's best story. It is the story of a man whose wife suffers from Alzheimer's and begins an affair with another man. The story became very popular and was made into the Oscar-nominated film 'Away From Her' in 2006. His last book 'Dear Life' was published in 2012. She said about 'Dear Life', 'I am confident, these are the first and last things I have to say about my life.' Reveals the relationship.

In early 2013, following withering bypass surgery, cancer treatment, and the death of her second husband, Munro announced her retirement from writing, and that same year she received the Nobel Prize.

Alice Munro was unable to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony due to ill health, and instead of the author's speech, a recorded literary dialogue with her, 'Alice Munro: In Her One Words', was presented on 7 December 2013, in Stockholm.

Alice used to say, 'Memory is the way we tell our story and tell the story to others in a different form.' But the writer who said this herself suffered from dementia. Alice Munro and James Munro had 4 daughters, but Catherine died of kidney problems the day she was born. Alice Munro and James Munro married in 1972. Later in 1976 she remarried Gerald Fremlin, a cartographer and geographer whom she had met during her university years.

Alice's daughter Sheila Munro's childhood memoir Lives of Mothers and Daughters: Growing Up with Alice Munro (2002) is published. Alice Munro herself said about the story, "A story is not like following a path...it's like a house." You go in and sit for a while looking around - discovering the new room, the balcony and realizing how it relates to the world outside.' In 2015, the Alice Munro Festival of Short Stories was held in Wingham, Ontario, Munro's birthplace. In honor of Alice winning the Nobel Prize, the Canadian government issued a $5 coin in her name, which includes a two-page image of her story 'The Messenger'.

On July 10, 2015, the Government of Canada issued a postage stamp to mark his birthday. The stamp features a photo of Monroe taken by his daughter and his signature in the background of the photo. And, in the foreground, the picture of his birthplace.