Alice Munro’s Nobel Prize win: ‘A true master’ of the short story
When the Nobel Prize in Literature was announced Thursday morning, literary Twitter flowed in three general veins: congratulations for the much-admired Alice Munro, the new Nobel laureate; wry commentary on how the prize is talked about in Western media outlets; and warm jokes, including the inevitable twerking.
The applause came from many quarters:
Bestselling novelist @jodipicoult: Love, love, LOVE that #AliceMunro won the #Nobel.
Booker Prize-winning novelist @SalmanRushdie: Many congrats to Alice Munro. When I edited Best American Short Stories I wanted to pick 3 of hers. A true master of the form. #NobelPrize
Amy Davidson, an editor at the New Yorker, posted a link to the magazine’s stories by Alice Munro, tweeting from @tnyCloseRead: Link to dozens of Alice Munro stories in @NewYorker, 1977-2012 (some sub. req.). Very happy—feel almost Canadian!
Canadian writer @sheilaheti: Deeply excited for the wonderful Alice Munro for winning the Nobel Prize in Literature 2013.
Memoirist Mary Karr (@marykarrlit): Brava Nobella Alice Munro. Last I heard, you cldn’t pay your bills. We honor yr stories. Faulkner out of print when he got his. Good for you
The Toronto-based International Festvial of Authors (@ifoa) tweeted: Our dear dear friend Alice Munro has won the Nobel Prize for Literature! What an amazing moment! #canlit #AliceMunro
And then the jokes, which begin with a strange turn of events. The apparently official (but unverified) Nobel account tweeted that it could not reach Alice Munro to tell her the news. The â€@Nobelprize_org tweet -- @Nobelprize.org is trying to reach #AliceMunro for our traditional phone interview, still voice mail... #NobelPrize-- included a link to an audio recording of Munro’s outgoing voicemail message.
About which fellow Canadian author and enthusiastic Munro supporter @MargaretAtwood tweeted: Okay, everyone’s calling Me to get me to write about Alice! (Alice, come out from behind the tool shed and pick up the phone.) #AliceMunro.
Another joke was also a two-parter.
Bestselling mystery novelist @HarlanCoben tweeted: Now if only Alice Munro would twerk.... #Nobel
Canadian fan @janetsomerville, who described her feelings about the news as “unabashed, bouncy ebullience,†replied: You clearly don’t know Alice. She just might.
Novelist Gary Shteyngart (@Shteyngart) joked: What’s the best way for my imaginary production company to send Alice Munro a muffin basket?
While actual Hollywood filmmaker Sarah Polley (@SarahEPolley), who adapted and directed Munro’s story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain†into the movie “Away from Her,†tweeted: Oh it is a lovely thing when people who don’t seek recognition get it anyway. #NobelPrize #alicemunro
A few writers noted that Munro is a known quantity for American cultural observers. Typical sentiments:
Novelist Hari Kunzru (@harikunzru): Lots of relieved literary journalists who don’t have to google translations by the winner. #Nobel
Critic Roxane Gay (@rgay): At least we are saved the cultural myopia of “who?!!†That normally accompanies the Nobel.
ALSO:
American adults have low (and declining) reading proficiency
Writer Ilija Trojanov on being unexpectedly barred from the U.S.
Inside the legendary Gay Talese story “Frank Sinatra Has a Coldâ€
Sign up for our Book Club newsletter
Get the latest news, events and more from the Los Angeles Times Book Club, and help us get L.A. reading and talking.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
