Alice Munro: Local Resources for Teachers & Students

May 15, 2024

Hardcover book (left) and award (right) in frame. The book is Alice Munro's "Dear Life." The Trillium Award is Ontario's highest prize for literature.
Huron County is known across the world as  “Alice Munro Country.” Alice Munro (1931-2024) was born in Wingham and lived in Clinton for decades. The landscapes, culture, architecture and people of Huron County are reflected in many of her incisive stories.  Today she is honoured by the Alice Munro Branch library and literary garden in Wingham, a tribute bench outside of the library in Clinton, and the annual Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story. 

This guide provides a quick introduction and links for teachers and students to learn about this Nobel-Prize winning author and master of the shorty story through the collections of the Huron County Museum.

Video

The Young Canuckstorians: The Alice Munro Story

Thanks to the 1st Bayfield Guides who researched, scripted and recorded this video in partnership with museum staff and video producer Mickey Maple.

Research Resources

 

Huron County’s digitized newspapers chronicle local news from across the county! Click to search more than a century of history via Huron County’s digitized newspapers: free, online and keyword searchable.

You may find many items about Alice Munro’s career accomplishments, her life in Clinton (including anti-censorship efforts) and references to her childhood in Wingham as Alice Laidlaw in the local papers. Use the search tips to help narrow by search term, community or date. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black & white photo of a smiling Alice Munro, a middle-aged woman with dark curly hair blowing in the wind.
2023.0028.064. Alice Munro in 1978.
Gold coloured medallion with bearded man's face and shoulders in profile (Alfred Nobel).
2023.0028.102b. Nobel prize for literature awarded to Alice Munro in 2013.
Newspaper clipping headlined "Tears, cheers, jeers mark book debate" Includes rectangular black and white photo in the bottom left with five figures sitting at a table.
Clipping from the Exeter Times-Advocate,1978-06-15, pg 1. “The public meeting was organized by a concerned group opposed to the recent campaign to have the novels banned from county high schools. Parents, students, grandmothers and authors debated for almost three hours on the merit of the three novels or the reasons they should be removed from the list of approved high school textbooks.”

Visual Resources

Visit our online catalogue to find museum artifacts that belonged to Alice Munro or relate to her work, now housed in the museum’s collection! Relevant items include clothing, literary prizes from around the globe, archival materials and books. 

Reading Lists

Alice Munro: 1931-2024 | Huron County Library | BiblioCommons

Famous Huron County Lives | Huron County Library | BiblioCommons

Fiction set in Huron County (or Huron County-alike) | Huron County Library | BiblioCommons

Want to know more? If you’re interested in further research, or combining a school trip to the museum or gaol with a screening of a film adaptation of Munro’s works in our theatre, reach out to the Huron County Museum! museum [@] huroncounty.ca
This is a light purple and orange Man Booker International Prize, awarded to author Alice Munro in 2009. It is designed to look like a book with an orange bookmark and is broken into three pieces.
2023.0028.105. Man Booker Prize awarded to Alice Munro in 2009.