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| Alice Munro wins Nobel Prize for Literature | Alice Munro wins Nobel Prize for Literature |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Canadian author Alice Munro has won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature. | Canadian author Alice Munro has won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature. |
| Making the announcement, Peter Englund, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, called her a "master of the contemporary short story". | Making the announcement, Peter Englund, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, called her a "master of the contemporary short story". |
| The 82-year-old, whose books include Dear Life and Dance of the Happy Shades, is only the 13th woman to win the prize since its inception in 1901. | The 82-year-old, whose books include Dear Life and Dance of the Happy Shades, is only the 13th woman to win the prize since its inception in 1901. |
| "I knew I was in the running, yes, but I never thought I would win," Munro told Canadian media. | "I knew I was in the running, yes, but I never thought I would win," Munro told Canadian media. |
| Presented by the Nobel Foundation, the award - which is presented to a living writer - is worth eight million kronor (£770,000). | Presented by the Nobel Foundation, the award - which is presented to a living writer - is worth eight million kronor (£770,000). |
| Previous winners include literary giants such as Rudyard Kipling, Toni Morrison and Ernest Hemingway. | Previous winners include literary giants such as Rudyard Kipling, Toni Morrison and Ernest Hemingway. |
| Mr Englund told The Associated Press that he had not been able to contact Munro ahead of the announcement so left a message on her answering machine, informing her of her win. | Mr Englund told The Associated Press that he had not been able to contact Munro ahead of the announcement so left a message on her answering machine, informing her of her win. |
| "She has taken an art form, the short story, which has tended to come a little bit in the shadow behind the novel, and she has cultivated it almost to perfection,'' he added. | "She has taken an art form, the short story, which has tended to come a little bit in the shadow behind the novel, and she has cultivated it almost to perfection,'' he added. |
| Munro, who began writing in her teenage years, published her first story, The Dimensions of a Shadow, in 1950. | Munro, who began writing in her teenage years, published her first story, The Dimensions of a Shadow, in 1950. |
| She had been studying English at the University of Western Ontario at the time. | She had been studying English at the University of Western Ontario at the time. |
| Chekov | Chekov |
| Dance of the Happy Shades, published in 1968, was Munro's first collection, and it went on to win Canada's highest literary prize, the Governor General's Award. | Dance of the Happy Shades, published in 1968, was Munro's first collection, and it went on to win Canada's highest literary prize, the Governor General's Award. |
| In 2009, she won the Man Booker International Prize for her entire body of work. | In 2009, she won the Man Booker International Prize for her entire body of work. |
| "I think maybe I was successful in doing this because I didn't have any other talents," she once said in an interview with Book Lounge. | "I think maybe I was successful in doing this because I didn't have any other talents," she once said in an interview with Book Lounge. |
| "I'm not really an intellectual," she added. "I was an okay housewife but I wasn't that great. | "I'm not really an intellectual," she added. "I was an okay housewife but I wasn't that great. |
| "There was never anything else that I was really drawn to doing - so nothing interfered, in the way life interferes for so many people." | "There was never anything else that I was really drawn to doing - so nothing interfered, in the way life interferes for so many people." |
| BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz said Munro had been "at the very top of her game since she started". | BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz said Munro had been "at the very top of her game since she started". |
| "Very few writers are her equal," he said, adding "she gets to the heart of what it is to be human". | "Very few writers are her equal," he said, adding "she gets to the heart of what it is to be human". |
| "I thought she might not win because she's not overtly political; and of late the Nobel has tended to go to political writers." | "I thought she might not win because she's not overtly political; and of late the Nobel has tended to go to political writers." |
| The award "probably won't make a commercial difference" to the author, he added, but it "makes a huge difference to how her work will be viewed in historical terms". | The award "probably won't make a commercial difference" to the author, he added, but it "makes a huge difference to how her work will be viewed in historical terms". |
| "If she hadn't won it before she died, I think it would have been a terrible, terrible omission." | "If she hadn't won it before she died, I think it would have been a terrible, terrible omission." |
| Often compared to Anton Chekhov, she is known for writing about the human spirit and a regular theme of her work is the dilemma faced by young girls growing up and coming to terms with living in a small town. | Often compared to Anton Chekhov, she is known for writing about the human spirit and a regular theme of her work is the dilemma faced by young girls growing up and coming to terms with living in a small town. |
| The Nobel academy praised her "finely tuned storytelling, which is characterised by clarity and psychological realism". | The Nobel academy praised her "finely tuned storytelling, which is characterised by clarity and psychological realism". |
| 'Pipe dreams' | 'Pipe dreams' |
| Munro, whose daughter woke her to tell her she had won the Nobel, said she was "terribly surprised" and "delighted". | Munro, whose daughter woke her to tell her she had won the Nobel, said she was "terribly surprised" and "delighted". |
| Speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), she said she always viewed her chances of winning as "one of those pipe dreams" that "might happen, but it probably wouldn't". | Speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), she said she always viewed her chances of winning as "one of those pipe dreams" that "might happen, but it probably wouldn't". |
| "It's the middle of the night here and I had forgotten about it all, of course," she added. | "It's the middle of the night here and I had forgotten about it all, of course," she added. |
| Since the 1960s, Munro has published more than a dozen collections of short stories. | Since the 1960s, Munro has published more than a dozen collections of short stories. |
| Her early stories capture the difference between her own experiences growing up in Wingham, a conservative Canadian town west of Toronto, and her life after the social revolution of the 1960s. | Her early stories capture the difference between her own experiences growing up in Wingham, a conservative Canadian town west of Toronto, and her life after the social revolution of the 1960s. |
| In an interview in 2003, she described the relaxation of social conventions in the 60s as "wonderful". | In an interview in 2003, she described the relaxation of social conventions in the 60s as "wonderful". |
| "Having been born in 1931, I was a little old, but not too old, and women like me after a couple of years were wearing miniskirts and prancing around," she said. | "Having been born in 1931, I was a little old, but not too old, and women like me after a couple of years were wearing miniskirts and prancing around," she said. |
| Her stories take place in her native southwest Ontario, "because I live life here at a level of irritation which I would not achieve in a place that I knew less well". | Her stories take place in her native southwest Ontario, "because I live life here at a level of irritation which I would not achieve in a place that I knew less well". |
| "There are no such things as big and little subjects. The major things, the evils, that exist in the world have a direct relationship to the evil that exists around a dining room table when people are doing things to each other." | "There are no such things as big and little subjects. The major things, the evils, that exist in the world have a direct relationship to the evil that exists around a dining room table when people are doing things to each other." |
| Her writing has brought her several awards. She won The Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the National Book Critics Circle prize for Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, and is a three-time winner of the Governor General's prize. | Her writing has brought her several awards. She won The Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the National Book Critics Circle prize for Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, and is a three-time winner of the Governor General's prize. |
| Other notable books include Lives of Girls and Women, Who Do You Think You Are, The Progress of Love and Runaway. | Other notable books include Lives of Girls and Women, Who Do You Think You Are, The Progress of Love and Runaway. |
| In 1980, The Beggar Maid was shortlisted for the annual Booker Prize for Fiction and her stories frequently appear in publications such as the New Yorker and the Paris Review. | In 1980, The Beggar Maid was shortlisted for the annual Booker Prize for Fiction and her stories frequently appear in publications such as the New Yorker and the Paris Review. |
| Retirement | Retirement |
| Several of her stories have also been adapted for the screen, including The Bear Came Over the Mountain, which became Away from Her, starring Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent. | Several of her stories have also been adapted for the screen, including The Bear Came Over the Mountain, which became Away from Her, starring Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent. |
| Munro revealed earlier this year that her latest book, Dear Life, published in 2012, would be her last. | Munro revealed earlier this year that her latest book, Dear Life, published in 2012, would be her last. |
| In an interview with the Canadian publication the National Post, she said the novel was "a little more special in that I'm probably not going to write anymore". | In an interview with the Canadian publication the National Post, she said the novel was "a little more special in that I'm probably not going to write anymore". |
| She continued: "It's nice to go out with a bang. | She continued: "It's nice to go out with a bang. |
| "Not that I didn't love writing, but I think you do get to a stage where you sort of think about your life in a different way. | "Not that I didn't love writing, but I think you do get to a stage where you sort of think about your life in a different way. |
| "And perhaps, when you're my age, you don't wish to be alone as much as a writer has to be. It's like at the wrong end of life, sort of becoming very sociable." | "And perhaps, when you're my age, you don't wish to be alone as much as a writer has to be. It's like at the wrong end of life, sort of becoming very sociable." |
| In 2009, Munro revealed she had been receiving treatment for cancer. She also had bypass surgery for a heart condition. | In 2009, Munro revealed she had been receiving treatment for cancer. She also had bypass surgery for a heart condition. |
| Notriously publicity-shy, Munro shies away from public events. | Notriously publicity-shy, Munro shies away from public events. |
| According to American literary critic David Homel: "She is not a socialite. She is actually rarely seen in public, and does not go on book tours. | According to American literary critic David Homel: "She is not a socialite. She is actually rarely seen in public, and does not go on book tours. |
| Munro will be presented with her latest award at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, who established the prize. | Munro will be presented with her latest award at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, who established the prize. |
| Last year's recipient was Chinese novelist Mo Yan. | Last year's recipient was Chinese novelist Mo Yan. |