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Alice Munro talk celebrates work of Nobel Prize winner

Richard Harvey speaks about the art of narrative fiction at West Vancouver Memorial library
Alice Munro
Canada’s Alice Munro, winner of the 2013 Nobel Literature Prize, spent several years living on the North Shore in the 1950s and ’60s.

A Talk on Alice Munro and the Art of Narrative Fiction by Richard Harvey, Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at the West Vancouver Memorial Library. By donation. westvanlibrary.ca.

For comparative literature specialist Richard Harvey, it's the complexity of Alice Munro's short stories that have attracted readers for so long.

"The word dialectical comes to mind," the instructor in Simon Fraser University's Continuing Studies program goes on to explain. "Her stories present contradictions that resolve when they're followed up. For example, in many stories there are actually two events that seem to be unrelated but they illuminate one another when they are explored and that's her talent. She puts together stories like one would put together a puzzle and only far into the story does the clarity and illumination begin to emerge.. .. She takes really ordinary events and shows the complexity underlying them."

Harvey, a Lower Lonsdale resident who is also a practising psychotherapist, has often focused on the celebrated Canadian author - who he compares to the likes of Ernest Hemingway - in his courses as her typical form, the short story, is a personal specialty.

So, it's no surprise that in the wake of Munro's recent award nod, the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2013, for which she was referred to as a "master of the contemporary short story," he's calling on community members to stop and take notice.

Harvey is presenting a free presentation entitled A Talk on Alice Munro and the Art of Narrative Fiction, Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at the West Vancouver Memorial Library.

Munro, the 110th Literature Laureate, is the 13th woman to have received the honour, joining the ranks of Doris Lessing, Nadine Gordimer and Toni Morrison. She's also the only Canadian to have won the award, with the exception of Saul Bellow, who, while born in Lachine, Que., was living in the United States when he received his.

"I think that the Nobel Prize is a huge honour.. .. and that it has been awarded to her is an immense honour and I thought in some way one should recognize that and acknowledge it and do something about it," says Harvey.

He's pleased to hear from local librarians that he's not alone in honouring Munro's talent, as her books are proving hugely popular at the moment, and he's hopeful for a big turnout on Tuesday.

"I think (community members) will come because they recognize the quality and she gives a lot of pleasure and she is Canadian," he says.

In addition to discussing her talent and many works, particularly those featured in a 1996 compilation Selected Stories, drawing from her previous publications, Harvey plans to highlight Munro's local connection.

Born in Wingham, Ont., she lived on the West Coast for approximately 20 years, from the early 1950s to early 1970s. The first 10 or so years she spent in the Vancouver area, including homes in North and West Vancouver, and the remainder in Victoria where she and her first husband James opened Munro's Books in 1963. The shop is still in operation and very much a local institution. Munro's first book, Dance of the Happy Shades, was released in 1968 and was awarded the Governor General's Award for English Fiction.

Munro has been based in Ontario since the 1970s, however recent media reports suggest the 82-yearold writer is spending the fall and winter in Victoria with family.

"One of my hopes is that a talk like this will stimulate people to form reading circles and study her stories," says Harvey. "Most book clubs deal with novels you see and short stories don't feature very much but they're much more convenient for reading groups to handle because you can handle one story in one meeting."

In addition to his talk at the West Vancouver Memorial Library, Harvey is scheduled to give another, entitled Alice Munro, Short-Story Writer, Nov. 21 at 1:30 p.m. at SFU's Vancouver campus. Admission is free and the event is open to all ages, but attendees are asked to register (sfu. ca/continuing-studies).