Alice Munro Honored

Wednesday’s NY Times reports that Alice Munro will receive the MacDowell Medal in a ceremony on Aug. 13 at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, N.H. The medal is awarded annually to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the arts. The MacDowell Colony is the oldest artists’ colony in the United States. Previous recipients include Joan Didion, Georgia O’Keeffe, I. M. Pei, and Merce Cunningham.

Fans of Munro may be interested in the Summer issue of VQR (available July 1) which will feature a story by Munro from her new collection due this fall; appreciations of her by Michael Cunningham, Margaret Atwood, and Russell Banks, among others; and an essay on her work by Marcela Valdes. Our website will feature an interview of Munro by Lisa Dickler Awano that we hope to post in early June.