2014 - $5 - Fine Silver Coin - Alice Munro

For more than four decades, Canadian author Alice Munro has delighted readers with her engaging storytelling and profound “slice of life” narratives. Now, the Royal Canadian Mint proudly celebrates this Nobel Prize-winning author with a unique coin that honours Munro's literary contributions—both at home and worldwide!

As the recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, Munro holds the added distinction of being the first Canadian woman to win this remarkable accolade. She is truly an icon of Canadian literature and a master of the short story, leading some to refer to her as “Canada's Tchekhov.”

Alice Munro is the 110th Nobel laureate in literature. Remarkably, she is only the 13th woman to receive this honour since its inception in 1901. Her first collection of stories, titled Dance of the Happy Shades, was published when she was
37-years old. Over the course of her remarkable career, Alice Munro has won the Man Booker International Prize, two Scotiabank Giller Prizes, three Governor General's Literary Awards, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Marian Engel Award and the American National Book Critics Circle Award. In fact, the Giller Prize has been awarded to short-story authors only three times—and two of those went to Alice Munro!

In many of her short stories, Alice Munro transports us to the small towns of Southwestern Ontario that she has known throughout her life. While these settings may seem uniquely Canadian, the conflicts and the female characters are not—there is a universal appeal to these everyday people whose personal turmoil propels them towards an epiphany of sorts. Told in a lyrical yet precise prose style, these coming-of-age stories are filled with human complexity – doubts and emotions that we can all relate to—which creates a reading experience that is entertaining, enlightening and empowering.

Specification
 

• Mintage 7500
• Composition fine silver (99.99% pure)
• Finish proof
• Weight (g) 23.17
• Diameter (mm)36.07
• Edge serrated
• Certificate serialized
• Face value 5 dollars
• Artist Laurie McGaw (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse)