Alice Munro “taking a break from writing”

The Swedish Academy called Canadian author Alice Munro “the master of the contemporary short story” when she was awarded the 2013 nobel prize in literature this week.

Known for her easy-to-read style, Munro has written many stories set in Ontario. The 82-year old writer is the first Canadian-based writer to secure the honour.

Considered one of the world’s greatest living writers of short stories, Munro last published the 2012 collection “Dear Life.”

She has also previously won two Scotiabank Giller prizes, three Governor General’s Literary awards, and the Commonwealth Writers’ prize.

She said winning the nobel prize in literature was an honor but she is taking a break from writing.

“I took a vow just a little while ago when I had a birthday that I wouldn’t write anymore because I had been writing since I was about ten or eleven years old and it seemed to me time to stop and just relax. You’re always working as a writer. And so I thought I would try that for a while. And I’m trying that now. But who knows.”

Alice Munro is only the 13th woman to receive this distinction.