# And the winner of the 2013 Nobel Literature competition is ... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2013, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863 "2013-10-10T11:01:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/1 "2013-10-10T11:01:21Z")
… the Canadian writer [Alice Munro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Munro). ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/2 "2013-10-10T12:10:12Z")
Not sure “competition” is the best word for a prize recognizing a body of work, but whatever. Moved MPSIMS --\> Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/3 "2013-10-10T14:58:36Z")
Unfortunately, I haven’t read much of her stuff, so can’t comment. She certainly has been mentioned in consideration for years, so it isn’t a shock. The write-ups are comparing her short stories to Chekhov’s - that’s a good thing; maybe I will give her a read. The Nobel bump… Someone like **Margaret Atwood** must be bummed - the Nobel committee won’t be going for another Canadian woman for the next few award cycles… ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/4 "2013-10-10T15:39:17Z")
She’s the first Canadian ever to get the the prize I heard on the radio. Saul Bellow was born in Canada but he lived in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![irritant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@irritant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irritant)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/5 "2013-10-10T16:02:38Z")
I heard last year that she had some kind of cancer and wasn’t expected to live long (so I put her on my Death Pool, which naturally ensures that she will at least survive until at least January). Since Nobels aren’t awarded posthumously, the committee knows this will be their only chance to honor her. Anyway, she is a fine writer. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/6 "2013-10-10T16:04:24Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > She’s the first Canadian ever to get the the prize I heard on the radio. Saul Bellow was born in Canada but he lived in the USA. I would’ve loved **Robertson Davies** to have won. I love his three Trilogies. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/7 "2013-10-10T16:15:23Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Someone like **Margaret Atwood** must be bummed - the Nobel committee won’t be going for another Canadian woman for the next few award cycles… This. Atwood is totally deserving and has been a perennial favourite to get the prize. Now, though, not so much. I mean how many Canadian authors can be honoured in that way? And, a woman to boot (assuming the Nobel committee even considers such things, which I suspect they do). ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/8 "2013-10-10T17:57:01Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Unfortunately, I haven’t read much of her stuff, so can’t comment. She certainly has been mentioned in consideration for years, so it isn’t a shock. The write-ups are comparing her short stories to Chekhov’s - that’s a good thing; maybe I will give her a read. The Nobel bump… > > Someone like **Margaret Atwood** must be bummed - the Nobel committee won’t be going for another Canadian woman for the next few award cycles… Actually, Margaret Atwood seems very happy for her, she tweeted this: “Hooray! Alice Munro wins 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature” ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/9 "2013-10-10T18:29:13Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Actually, Margaret Atwood seems very happy for her, she tweeted this: > > “Hooray! Alice Munro wins 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature” That shows us that Atwood is gracious, which is cool. But it doesn’t change her situation… ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/10 "2013-10-11T09:00:13Z")
> [@irritant](#): > > Since Nobels aren’t awarded posthumously … It has happened once and on another occasion the laureate died before the prize was handed over. ---
**Author:** ![LauraC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@LauraC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LauraC)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/11 "2013-10-11T13:26:32Z")
It’s good to see the short story taken more seriously as a form of writing too. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/12 "2013-10-11T13:54:32Z")
The only stories I read from Alice Munro are those published in The New Yorker and must say they stayed with me. In last 5 years she has at least 10 stories published in that magazine. As many Canadians, I’ll be picking up her collected works pretty soon :o ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/13 "2013-10-11T17:58:03Z")
My absolute favorite author of all time, so I was pretty stoked to see this 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/14 "2013-10-11T18:45:09Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > That shows us that Atwood is gracious, which is cool. But it doesn’t change her situation… Which she may or may not wish to have changed. She’s been pretty successful. Even her poetry sells, and not many writers get that. She already has a Booker. She may not want the hoopla of a Nobel. Of course, she might and might right now be planning to take Alice Munro in a Canadian Women’s Writers Cage Match to the Death. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/15 "2013-10-11T18:46:24Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Which she may or may not wish to have changed. She’s been pretty successful. Even her poetry sells, and not many writers get that. She already has a Booker. She may not want the hoopla of a Nobel. Of course, she might and might right now be planning to take Alice Munro in a Canadian Women’s Writers Cage Match to the Death. Oh yeah; I have no access to her real POV. I’m just raking over the implications… ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-winner-of-the-2013-nobel-literature-competition-is/670863/16 "2013-10-11T18:57:18Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > As many Canadians, I’ll be picking up her collected works pretty soon :o [If you can find them](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/canadian-book-sellers-caught-off-guard-by-alice-munros-nobel-prize-scramble-to-stock-shelves/article14810219/)!