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TWUC celebrates Alice Munro’s Novel Prize
An Open Letter to TWUC members from the Chair of the Writers Union of Canada
"Alice Munro Nobel Laureate." Surely millions of glasses were raised to that over Thanksgiving weekend. And not just in Canada! You can bet we thousands of TWUCers did. Alice was a founding member of TWUC. She was at the planning meetings along with Graeme Gibson, Margaret Atwood, Marian and Howard Engel and others. She attended the November 3rd, 1973 Ottawa meeting when TWUC was officially founded, with Margaret Laurence as Honourary Chair, Marian Engel elected Chair.
In 1980 when I attended my first TWUC meeting, I had the pleasure of sitting beside Alice. I have relatives still farming in 'Munro country'. "That will be a lot of hard work,"; said Alice in response to my remarks about revising my third novel. She has a strong work ethic. She does not write effortlessly.
This is what many people will be doing now... recalling times with Alice, the influence of her work. That's my important point. Alice Munro as Nobel Laureate will have lasting influence. People at home and abroad will regard her and Canadian literature more highly. I had an email forwarded from a university professor of Canadian Studies in England, forecasting that the Canadian government will now appreciate Canadian writing more and restore more funding for it. Scoff as some may, there is plausibility in this and TWUC will work on it.
Alice has been a supportive member of The Writers' Union of Canada for all its forty years. We thank her for that. As I said in our letter of congratulations to her, her work is much loved and so is she.
-- Dorris Heffron
Chair, The Writers' Union of Canada
October 2013
--
The Writers' Trust later extended its heartfelt congratulations to short fiction genius Alice Munro, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, by preparing a video tribute featuring authors Miriam Toews, Douglas Gibson, Alistair MacLeod, and more.
"Alice Munro Nobel Laureate." Surely millions of glasses were raised to that over Thanksgiving weekend. And not just in Canada! You can bet we thousands of TWUCers did. Alice was a founding member of TWUC. She was at the planning meetings along with Graeme Gibson, Margaret Atwood, Marian and Howard Engel and others. She attended the November 3rd, 1973 Ottawa meeting when TWUC was officially founded, with Margaret Laurence as Honourary Chair, Marian Engel elected Chair.
In 1980 when I attended my first TWUC meeting, I had the pleasure of sitting beside Alice. I have relatives still farming in 'Munro country'. "That will be a lot of hard work,"; said Alice in response to my remarks about revising my third novel. She has a strong work ethic. She does not write effortlessly.
This is what many people will be doing now... recalling times with Alice, the influence of her work. That's my important point. Alice Munro as Nobel Laureate will have lasting influence. People at home and abroad will regard her and Canadian literature more highly. I had an email forwarded from a university professor of Canadian Studies in England, forecasting that the Canadian government will now appreciate Canadian writing more and restore more funding for it. Scoff as some may, there is plausibility in this and TWUC will work on it.
Alice has been a supportive member of The Writers' Union of Canada for all its forty years. We thank her for that. As I said in our letter of congratulations to her, her work is much loved and so is she.
-- Dorris Heffron
Chair, The Writers' Union of Canada
October 2013
--
The Writers' Trust later extended its heartfelt congratulations to short fiction genius Alice Munro, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, by preparing a video tribute featuring authors Miriam Toews, Douglas Gibson, Alistair MacLeod, and more.
Submitted on October 17, 2013 in By David.
