Alice Munro, the Canadian short story author who won the 2013 Nobel Prize for literature, has declined the invitation to the Nobel ceremony in Stockholm. The 82-year-old cited poor health.
Academy secretary Peter Englund announced Friday that she will not make the trip for the Dec. 10 ceremony, reports The Associated Press. It was not announced who will represent her.
“Her health is simply not good enough,” Englund wrote in a blog post, reports Reuters. “All involved, including Mrs Munro herself, regret this.”
Munro was announced as this year’s winner last week. She is one of the most popular recent recipients of the prize and is only the 13th woman to receive it. Her work is mostly focused on stories of women in Ontario.
In 2009, she underwent coronary bypass surgery and cancer treatment. Earlier this year, she said she would retire after the publication of her 14th collection.
“I knew I was in the running, yes, but I never thought I would win,” she told the Canadian Press last week. She added, “It just seems impossible. It seems so splendid a thing to happen that I can't describe it. It's more than I can say.”
image: Wikimedia Commons