At 1 PM Stockholm local time (GMT 11 AM) on October 10, the Swedish Academy awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature to Canadian author Alice Munro. According to statistics from odds lists on Ladbrokes websites, Japanese author Haruki Murakami had been the bookmaker’s favourite to win; however, he ultimately missed out the prize near at hand.
Alice Munro, who is the first Canadian and the 13th woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, was awarded by the Nobel Academy as a master of the contemporary short story. Most of Munro’s works are set against the background of Huron County, Ontario, where she was born, and her writing tends to depict normal and plain family stories in the early 20th century, frequently from the perspectives of complex female characters. There are two particular pronounced themes of Munro’s prose: female coming of age and the notion of growing up. She has been praised for her ability portray these themes with vividness and lucidity with words of both emotional and literary depth.
Alice Munro was known to readers owing to her first short story collection Dance of the Happy Shades(1968), published at the age of 37. However, she published her first story in 1950, during her time at the University of Western Ontario studying English and Journalism. In the same year, she received the Canada Council for the Arts’ Governor General’s Award for Literary Merit.
In increasing an author’s overseas readership, translation plays a vital role. Among overseas markets, taking China as an example, it has been reported that Runaway (2004), one of Munro’s more popular titles, is the only one with a Chinese translation at present. But with the announcement of her Nobel Literature Prize laureateship, Chinese readers now show burgeoning interest to read her works. In order to meet the demands of this readership, an estimated 100 thousand Chinese volumes of Runaway will be reprinted and the translations of another seven typical works will meet a Chinese audience before long.
In fact, when the exciting news was declared to the world from the Nobel Academy, Americans were no less exhilarated than Canadians. American Nobel enthusiasts have been impatient for a North American author to receive the honour after Toni Morrison won the prize in 1993. Moreover, American literary critics conveyed congratulation seemingly in response to Munro’s affinity with America. Geographic closeness is partially the reason. More importantly, Munro enjoys an illustrious reputation in America, as she is the most prolific author to have contributed to The New Yorker magazine. Even in America, her works are used as example to guide people how to write with exquisite words. Hence, there is no doubt that Americans are nuts about celebrating it.
The Nobel Prize for Literature initially aims to award those outstanding contributions in literature. However, the benchmark for the merit varies individually. Whether the result is the people’s choice and popular novel, or that of the committee will remain to be seen.Nevertheless, the Nobel Prize for Literature distinguishes itself from other literary awards and is still a lifelong glory for a writer. As for who might be conferred the title of laureate next year, it will be a hot topic and another annual guessing game.