As Anna noted this morning, I was really happy to wake to the news that Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize in Literature. I didn't appreciate her work so much when I was a younger man, because it takes patience and insight to understand the lives running beneath Alice Munro's stories. The older I get, the more meaningful her stories are to me. Munro's publisher forwarded us a statement from Munro about the prize:

This is so surprising and wonderful. I am dazed by all the attention and affection that has been coming my way this morning. It is such an honour to receive this wonderful recognition from the Nobel Committee and I send them my thanks.

When I began writing there was a very small community of Canadian writers and little attention was paid by the world. Now Canadian writers are read, admired and respected around the globe. I’m so thrilled to be chosen as this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature recipient. I hope it fosters further interest in all Canadian writers. I also hope that this brings further recognition to the short story form.

Munro is the rare Nobel lit winner who doesn't require much contextual information for American readers to dive right in. If you'd like to give her a try, you can start pretty much with any of her stories, but I recommend Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. And if you're looking for other media, Sarah Polley made a very good movie, Away from Her, out of one of Munro's stories, too. I don't care that much about awards, but sometimes an award feels exactly right. This is one of those times.