Alice Munro, a renowned Canadian short-story writer, in Clinton, Ontario, Canada, June 23, 2013. Munro, whose visceral work explores the tangled relationships between men and women, small-town existence and the fallibility of memory, won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature on Oct. 10. Munro, 82, is the 13th woman to win the prize.IAN WILLMS/The New York Times
Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for literature on Thursday, becoming the first Canadian to do so. The win was major news in the international press. Here's a round-up of how different outlets around the world referred to Munro in their stories:
- Agence France-Presse: “as unassuming and modest as the characters in her collections of short stories and novels”; “brilliant, dignified and elegant;”
- CNN: “gained world renown for writing about everyday people”
- The Guardian: “the Canadian doyenne of the short story;”
- The Independent: “a perfectionist who works for months and months on each of her stories, with little time to spare for literary festivals or parties”; “subtly political in her celebration of the human spirit and its need for freedom;”
- New York Times: “renowned Canadian short-story writer whose visceral work explores the tangled relationships between men and women, small-town existence and the fallibility of memory;”
- The New Yorker: “one of those writers who, no matter how popular her books may be, is our writer;”
- People’s Daily (China): “primarily known for her short stories;”
- USA Today: “the most popular writer to win the award;”
- Wall Street Journal: a writer with a “simple, easy-to-read style;”
Washington Post: “there’s almost certainly no living writer who inspires quite the reverence among readers – and writers – that Munro does.”
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article included a satirical comment from the Washington Post.