AliceMunroBiography
Munro,Alice,shortstory
writer(batWingham,Ont.10July1931).Munro'searlyyearswerespentin
westernOntario.Shemetherfirsthusband,JamesMunro,attheUofWestern
Ontario,andafter2yearsofuniversityshemovedwithhimtoVancouver.In
1963shehelpedestablishMunro'sBooks,andin1972shereturnedtoOntario
whereshemarriedGeraldFremlinin1976.ShewasawardedtheGovGen'sAward
forDanceoftheHappyShades(1968)andWhoDoYouThinkYouAre?
(1978),whichwasalsorunner-upfortheBookerPrize.Sheisalsotherecipient
oftheCanadianBooksellersAssnInternationalBookYearAwardforLivesof
GirlsandWomen(1971),TheCanada-AustraliaLiteraryPrize(1977),andthe
firstwinneroftheMarianEngelAward(1986).
Thestrengthofherfiction
arisespartiallyfromitsvividsenseofregionalfocus,mostofherstories
beingsetinHuronCounty,Ont,aswellasfromhersenseofthenarratorasthe
intelligencethroughwhichtheworldisarticulated.Herthemehasoftenbeen
thedilemmasoftheadolescentgirlcomingtotermswithfamilyandsmalltown.
Hermorerecentworkhasaddressedtheproblemsofmiddleage,ofwomenalone
andoftheelderly.Characteristicofherstyleisthesearchforsome
revelatorygesturebywhichaneventisilluminatedandgivenpersonal
significance.
InLivesofGirlsandWomen,
eachstoryisorganizedaroundametaphorwhosefunctionistodrawallthe
elementsofthevariousfictionalsequencesintoaradiantcentre.Thusthe
deathoftheprotagonist'sUncleCraigthatoccursin"HeirsoftheLivingBody"
isrelatedtootherdeathsandenvisionedaspartofnaturalprocess,suchthat
theprotagonist'smothercanannouncethat"'UncleCraigdoesn'thavetobe
UncleCraig!UncleCraigisflowers!'"He,likeallofMunro'scharacters,
sharesonelivingbody,althoughtheconnectionsmightnotalwaysbeperfectly
clear.Theimplicitconnectionthatdoesnotalwaysleadtoepiphanicdiscovery
ismoreapparentinTheMoonsofJupiter(1982),forhererelationships
aresuggestedbutthethreadsofattachmentarenotalwaysunravelled.
Itissometimesremarkedthat
Munro'sfictionisnearertoautobiographythanfiction.IndefenceofLives
ofGirlsandWomen,whichismostfrequentlyidentifiedasbeingmodelledon
herlife,Munrohasasserteditis"autobiographicalinformbutnotinfact."
Thedistinctionisperhapsnotpersuasive,butthechargeisdifficulttoevade,
forMunro'searforthelocalspeechhasanabsolutepitch,andhernarratorsas
filtersofpastandpresentpossessanintelligencethatmakesonefeelthatif
itisnotherlifebeingtold,thenitisours.
Inmanyways,furthermore,WhoDoYouThinkYouAre?maybeconsidered
amaturesequeltoLives,tracingthepattern,atleast,ofMunro'smovetothe
westcoastandback.DanceoftheHappyShadesandSomethingI've
BeenMeaningtoTellYou(1974),whilecontainingsomematerialthat
overlapswithexperiencedrawnfromtheauthor'slife,arecarefullysequenced
collectionsofshortstories.Her1986collection,TheProgressofLove
(1986),isadistillationofallherworksofar,exploringwithincreased
profunditytheproblemsoftimeandthenarrator'srelationtoit,inaprose
thatisperfectlyinstinctwithwonderandcompassion.ItalsowontheGovernor
General'sAward.
Thetwosubsequentcollections
ofstories,FriendofMyYouth(1990)andOpenSecrets,
(1994)haveshownhercontinuingdevelopmentasawriterandhaveextendedher
famefarbeyondCanada'sborders.Inspring1995shewontheW.H.SmithAward
forhavingwrittenthebestbookinanycategorypublishedinBritainthroughout
thepreviousyear.EntryfromThe
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