Nobel-winning short story author Munro dead at 92

Alice Munro, the Nobel Prize-winning author known for her mastery of the short story, has died at 92, her editor said Tuesday.

Munro set her taut, acutely observed stories in the rural Ontario countryside where she grew up, focusing a stark lens on the frailties of the human condition.

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 and the International Booker Prize for her body of work in 2009, Munro had suffered from dementia in recent years.

Her editor Deborah Treisman and a longtime friend David Staines confirmed to AFP that Munro died late Monday at her care home in Ontario.

"She was the greatest writer of the short story form of our time. She was exceptional as a writer and as a human being," said Staines.

Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge on X described Munro as a Canadian literary icon while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, "the world had lost one of its greatest storytellers."

"A true literary genius... her short stories about life, friendship, and human connection left an indelible mark on readers," he said.

Despite her vast success and an impressive list of literary prizes, Munro long remained as unassuming and modest as the characters in her fiction.

"She is not a socialite. She is actually rarely seen in public, and does not go on book tours," commented American literary critic David Homel after she rose to global fame.

That shy public profile contrasted with another Canadian contemporary literary giant, Margaret Atwood.

  'Like magic' 

Born on July 10, 1931, in Wingham, Ontario, Munro grew up in the countryside. Her father Robert Eric Laidlaw raised foxes and poultry, while her mother was a small town schoolteacher.

At age 11, Munro decided...