Congratulations Alice Munro, Canada’s guru of the short story, for winning the Nobel Prize for literature. Every Canadian should be proud of Ms. Munro, described by the Swedish Academy as a “master of the contemporary short story.”
I am proud of Ms. Munro’s achievement not only as a Canadian but more so as a writer. Ms. Munro, 82, who has always shunned the spotlight, is reported to have a wicked sense of humour. Literary critics have been baffled by the fact that Ms. Munro takes the reader into her imagination and then, according to the Globe and Mail, “shakes them up with plot twists and character revelations that seem to come out of no where.”
That type of control over language and literature is rare, but astounding, making it worthy of receiving the world’s most prestigious lifetime achievement award. For those who do not know Ms. Munro so well should take note that she is the author of 14 books of short stories. She has won dozens of literary prizes including the Giller (twice) and the Man Booker. For Munro fans, the sad news is that she has already announced that her most recent book, Dear Life, would be her last.
Writers throughout the country received the Nobel announcement with joy. It’s a moment of national pride. Margaret Atwood, another great writer, said the Nobel Prize was “long overdue for a Canadian.” She expressed her pleasure that the prize was won by a woman, adding that gender should never be a deciding factor. ” You can’t make literary decisions on that basis any more than we on the Giller jury were making decisions on whose turn it is, or what gender they are.”
Ms. Munro began her infatuation with books when she opened a bookstore in Victoria with her first husband, Jim Munro, 50 years ago. Munro’s Books still satisfies the community’s literary appetites. As soon as news of Ms. Munro’s achievement was known, the bookstore hastily rearranged shelves to take advantage of the hometown star’s good fortune. There is no doubt that sales of Munro books will dramatically increase.
While we are basking in the glory of Ms. Munro’s achievements, it would be worthwhile to examine as to what it means to emerging writers, most of whom could only dream about seeing their name in print. Everyone cannot be Alice Munro and it’s not an easygoing path for most emerging writers to have their books published. Book publishing has been going through a phase of reconstruction and facing enormous challenges within the industry and from self-publishing companies.
Some publishing companies accept manuscripts from emerging writers while majority of them want to receive manuscripts from literary agents only. Literary agents are dime a dozen but they are the toughest breed one can come across. Although they make their living by presenting manuscripts to publishing houses, it appears as if they are there to reject everyone’s submission. One has to wait for what amounts to eternity before one’s manuscript is accepted – that is if you are lucky. There are plenty of stories around about emerging writers who have received so many rejections that they were forced to go the self-publishing route out of frustration.
But things are changing. Those days are gone when self-publishing was frown upon in literary circles and self-publishing is quickly gaining ground as the best alternative for emerging writers. It is fast becoming a way to show those arrogant and selfish literary agents that there is also another way to publish books.
Another piece of good news is the emergence of ebooks on the market. Authors can now place their books with ebook publishers quiet easily and without any hassles. As more and more readers feel receptive and comfortable in buying self-published and ebooks, there will be more demand for such books and the traditional book publishers will have to change their attitude and the way they deal with emerging writers.
I am personally looking forward to having my next book published soon. Ms. Munro’s achievement gives encouragement to writers like me and I say with confidence damn those literary agents and their publishing cronies.
