Alice Munro wins 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature

  Alice Munro near her home in Clinton, Ontario

Alice Munro, the renowned Canadian short-story writer 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 Thursday. 

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.

Alice Munro was born on the 10th of July, 1931 in Wingham, which is in the Canadian province of Ontario. Munro started writing stories in her teens, but published her first book-length work in 1968, the story collection Dance of the Happy Shades. 

Munro is primarily known for her short stories and has published many collections over the years. Her works include Who Do You Think You Are? (1978), The Moons of Jupiter (1982), Runaway (2004), The View from Castle Rock(2006) and Too Much Happiness (2009). The collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (2001) became the basis of the film Away from Her from 2006, directed by Sarah Polley. Her most recent collection is Dear Life(2012).

Munro is the 13th woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature and the 17th Nobel laureate born in Canada. She is also a three-time winner of Canada's Governor General's Award for fiction and the winner of the 2009 Man Booker International Prize.

FACT ABOUT NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

106 Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded 1901-2013.

13 women have been awarded the Literature Prize so far.

4 Literature Prizes have been divided between two persons.

42 years was the age of the youngest Literature Laureate ever, Rudyard Kipling, best known for The Jungle Book.

88 years was the age of the oldest Literature Laureate ever, Doris Lessing, when she was awarded the Prize in 2007.

64 is the average age of the Nobel Laureates in Literature the year they were awarded the prize.